


Trigger Happy

by midnightdown (sailorsuga)



Series: Trigger Happy Universe [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 03:19:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 41,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6498769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorsuga/pseuds/midnightdown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since the day Niall witnessed his parents be murdered by demons, his whole life has been controlled by them. So he has become an Eraser—a demon hunter along with his mentor, Louis. However, there’s a certain demon whom he owes a debt to that he just can’t seem to get rid of…</p><p>"Just pull the trigger Niall..."</p><p>(THIS STORY IS DISCONTINUED)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> (2016): So there was a big 5 month gap between me transferring these stories over but, hear me out, college is kicking my ass okay. But I'm going to try to be more consistent with posting these stories so that 1.) I can hurry up and transfer all my fics over so I can rest peacefully and 2.) so people can actually read them cuz I know they're not viewable on my midnight-down blog. Anyways, there was no note from my 14 year old self so I'll just...yeah, regular schtick. 
> 
> So I was 14. Even though Trigger Happy is still my favorite piece of work (gasp, I actually don't hate something), there's a lot of errors, bad cases of research, cheesy/cliche moments befitting of a 14 year old's writing so forgive me ahead of time. Also, it's discontinued. Sorry.
> 
> It's been a while since I read this over so tags will be added as I post because I honestly don't remember everything that happens in this story lol but I will warn you now that this story is pretty violent. There's moments involving death, depression, suicidal thoughts, and there are quite a few sociopathic/psychopathic characters in this so if any of that triggers/bothers you, please do not read this. Aaaand yeah, I'm done for now.

It was pitch black under his parents’ bed except for the faint light of the fire which was alight his father’s corpse.

The toddler, Niall, held back a cry as he heard his mother let out another bloodcurdling scream.

“No! Please stop-AH!” He heard the loud slap echo out through the disheveled master bedroom. He winced but he refused to make a noise. His mommy told him not to make a noise unless they’d get him, too. No matter how much he wanted to help, his mother ordered him to stay put.

Niall jumped when he heard the loud thump from the impact his mother made when she fell over. He was terrified. He didn’t know what was going on and why. What did his mommy and daddy do to deserve this?  
He slowly turned his head and nearly screamed then and there when he came face to face with the bloodied and bruised face of his mother.

“Mommy…” Niall mouthed, tears streaming down his face and onto the wooden floorboards.

His mother smiled at him, despite the pain it caused her, tears welling up in her big baby blue eyes.

“I love you.” She mouthed before she was snatched up by her long blonde hair by a clawed, bloody hand. He snapped his head back to the bottom of the box spring. Niall slapped his tiny hands over his mouth to keep in the terrified noises threatening to burst out and shut his eyes tight.

“God help me. God help me. God help me.” He repeated it like a chant in his mind. His mommy always said if things got bad, God would help them; that angels were watching over them and protecting them. But when he opened his eyes, he didn’t see any of that. There were no angels. There was no God. Nobody was helping his mommy. Nobody was helping his daddy. Nobody was helping him.

Niall turned his head once more, the flames of the fire growing taller and taller. More tears fell from blue eyes as he watched his father’s body burn. “Daddy…no…” he whimpered. He watched the descending feet which obviously belonged to the murderers of his family. He ignored the smell of burning flesh, the sound of the falling pieces of the house, and sobbed.

Everything was gone. Everything.

“Mommy.” He blubbered but all he saw was the severed head of his mother lying about a foot away. He didn’t even attempt to move from his hiding place. He just cried and whimpered and lied there as the flames grew closer.

“I don’t want to be here no more…” he whispered to no one in particular.

“I’ll die…with mommy and daddy…”


	2. Chapter 1

The smell of alcohol was strong in the air and the young Mullingar native fought hard not to gag.

This place was crawling with greasy truckers, sluts, and basically any other scum you could find on the streets of London.

And he hated it.

“Lighten up, will ya?” Annoyed blue eyes met playful green ones and the blonde scowled.

“Of course,” Sarcasm oozed into his strong Irish accent, “Because this place infested with STD’s and ex-cons is so much fun…”

His companion chuckled. “You’ll lighten up when we’re through here. You always do.”

“Whatever.” He replied cynically, eyes wandering around the room to meet a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

He smiled at the woman across the room and she returned it.

She was beautiful, just as he figured she’d be.

Long, flowing brown hair; seductive brown eyes; and a nice pair of legs on her.

“Niall,” Louis said, catching his attention. “That her?”

Niall nodded, taking a sip of his beer. “Yup. She fits the description.”

Louis whipped his head around to look at the woman who hadn’t taken her eyes off of Niall yet. He smirked playfully.

“She looks interested in you.”

Niall shrugged. “That’s okay. I’m pretty interested in her, too.” He slid out of his seat.

“Wasting her demonic ass, that is.” He muttered and Louis chuckled.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “Being an Eraser makes you think less about bedding a beautiful woman and more about exorcising her.”

“Bedding people was never an interest of mine to begin with.”

Louis shook his head with a small smile. “Don’t get killed.”

Niall nodded and headed to the woman across the room with a charming grin.

“Hi, I’m Niall.”

\--

Tongues wrestled for dominance; clothes clawed at; desire filled both of their minds.

What they desired for, however, was very different.

Niall pulled away from the woman he had pinned against the brick wall of the alley. He smirked at her flushed face.

“You know, I never caught your name.”

She giggled, running her fingers up his back and neck and finally tangling them in his soft blonde hair.

She reached up. “Geneva.” The name was ghosted over Niall’s ear and he shivered.

“How pretty,” he said into the crook of her neck.

Suddenly, the “woman” was flung across the concrete, her back hitting the other wall of the alley.

Geneva winced in pain and looked up only to be staring down the barrel of a stainless steel pistol.

Despite her position, she smirked. “An Eraser.” She laughed.

“Damn right,” Niall replied, “And now that we have that established, I’m going to do my job.”

Geneva kicked the gun out of Niall’s hand and then kicked him in the chest. Niall flew back and hit the brick wall behind him. She was a demon for sure; no human had that kind of strength.

Geneva smirked at the fallen Eraser as she began to morph. Her tan skin became an inky black and her filed nails grew long and sharpened until they became knife-like. All of her chestnut brown hair fell to the ground and her eyes turned a blood red.

Most people would’ve been terrified maybe even repulsed at the sight.

Niall wasn’t one of those people.

Niall only smirked at the transformation.

“Nothing for you to be smiling about,” Geneva said. She tilted her head with a devious smile.

“You’re about to die, kid.” She held up her knife-edge claws threateningly.

The next thing Niall knew, he was knocked to the ground, the demon hovering over him with a bloodthirsty expression and the claws coming closer to his head.

Niall acted quick and grabbed her wrist, twisting it, and then head-butting her. She cried out in pain and fell. Niall scrambled to his feet and grabbed his fallen weapon, pointing it at her again and pulling the trigger.

But Geneva was quick and disappeared before it could get her only to reappear in front of Niall’s face, mere inches from his face.

“Bye-bye.” She whispered.

Niall’s eyes widened as she sank her claws into his side, twisting them around to torture him further. He screamed in pain and right before it could get any worse, a gunshot sounded out.

Geneva threw her head back and let out an eardrum-shattering scream as her body began to disintegrate; turning into small pieces before forming pitch black smoke.

As she disappeared, Niall could see a familiar shape in the thick smoke.

“Louis,” he breathed, blood running down his side and onto the concrete. Louis shook his head.

“Didn’t I tell you not to get killed?”

“Well, technically, I’m only bleeding.” Niall said with a weak smile.

“Save it, smartass.”

\--

“Ow! Damn it, Cher! That shit hurts!”

Cher rolled her eyes at Niall as she stitched up the wound. “Quit being such a baby. You’ve taken worse than this.”

Niall pouted childishly and Louis snickered behind his hand.

They always found a way here; at Cher’s place. It was a small house in a forest somewhere. She and two other Erasers, Aiden Grimmshaw and Matt Cardle, had been living here since demon attacks in the urban part of London had gotten more frequent. It was safer out here and less worrying over people finding out about them. Being a demon hunter wasn’t exactly a norm.

Cher wrapped a bandage around the sewed up wound. “Okay, Nialler, all done here.”

“Thanks…though it wouldn’t kill ya to be gentle.”

Cher glared at him and wrapped her arm around his neck to put him in a headlock.

“You little bastard!” she yelled. “I do all that work and you still complain?! I could’ve let you bleed to death; I hope you know that you ungrateful little punk!!”

She tightened her hold as Louis watched on, amused.

“I’m guessing Niall’s here.” Louis turned around to face Matt who was walking out of the kitchen.

“Correct,” He replied playfully. “How’d you guess?”

“She always says things like that when he’s here.”

The two watched as Cher strangled poor Niall into submission. It was usual for her to be like this with him. He was like her brother even if she’d never admit it.

“Cher.” Matt called and she whipped her head around to glare at him.

“Can you please let him go? He already had one near death experience. I’m sure he doesn’t need another.”

Cher complied reluctantly and Niall gasped for breath. “YOU are not a woman!” he yelled.

“Whatever, leprechaun,” she said. “So, the demon, is she dead?”

Niall rubbed his neck. “Yeah, she should be. Louis shot her and she disintegrated.”

“You didn’t?”

“…I couldn’t.” Niall muttered. “I…I couldn’t move.”

Matt nodded. “Well you’re still early on in your stage. It’s okay that you couldn’t do it.”

Louis could see Niall visibly twitch at that.

“Yeah, I get it…” He was lying, Louis knew it.

“…I’ll be back in a minute. Thanks for stitching me up, Cher.” Cher nodded and watched as the youngest shuffled out of the room.

“He’s hard on himself.” Cher spoke when the front door slammed shut.

“Isn’t he always?” Matt replied. “You know this thing he has about demons; it’s an obsession. They murdered his parents.”

Cher sighed as she started getting all her medical supplies together again.

“Yeah, I know.”

Louis shoved his hands in his pockets. “He really wants them dead, you know? Every single one of them.” He added. “So he’s gonna be like that often. I’ll go talk to him.”

“He always listens to you, doesn’t he?” Matt said with a smile and Louis returned it.

“Yeah, yeah I suppose he does.”

\--

Niall ran his hands through his hair in frustration. This had to be the third time this month that a demon had almost gotten him. He knows he’s still a bit early in his stage; he’s not some veteran Eraser like Matt and he wasn’t raised to do this job like Louis but it still frustrated him.

If he did happen to die; he’d never be able to find them; the ones who caused this whole obsession to begin with.

That was always the goal; to find them. And he couldn’t do that and end them personally if Louis had to keep saving his ass.

Louis Tomlinson is Niall’s mentor of three years. He’s young for an Eraser, only 20, but he’s damn good at what he does. From what Niall heard, Louis came from an entire family of Erasers. His grandparents did the job and so did his parents; his little sister is even in training. It’s like a family business for him; it’s in his blood.

When Niall started this whole demon hunting business, the first person he went looking for was Louis Tomlinson. He knew if he wanted to make it, he needed a guy like him. It took him a while to convince Louis to take him as an apprentice; he wasn’t some music instructor you could pay to give you lessons. Niall had to prove himself. It was accidental when Niall shot a demon to save Louis because he had never held a gun in his life before then but it was enough to get Louis as a teacher so he didn’t complain.

That’s how he found himself where he is now; an Eraser for three years that still needed to be watched over like a child by their mentor.

Niall jumped as he felt a hand lay down on his shoulder.

“Calm down, man. I’m human.” Louis joked and Niall rolled his eyes.

“Shut up,” he sighed. “What do you want?”

Louis smiled and patted an empty spot on Cher’s porch. “Chat.”

Niall sat beside his teacher, head facing the ground.

“Listen,” Louis started. “I know what these things did to you and your family. I can’t say I understand what it feels like because I don’t. And I hate having to be Dr. Phil but you really shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.”

Niall faced him. “But I—“

“Niall, this job ain’t easy.” Louis cut him off, already knowing the boy’s argument after hearing it for three years. “You aren’t going to pick it up just after three years. To me, it ain’t difficult because I was born into it; it’s second nature. But it’s not to you. You aren’t going to be a pro this early. You will, trust me. You’ve learned fast. But you’re not quite there.”

Niall nodded reluctantly. “Quit being so hard on yourself. That’s the last thing you need to be doing in this line of work. Now come inside, its late.”

Niall slowly rose to his feet. “Thanks, Louis.”

Louis grinned. “No problem, kid.” He replied. “Oh by the way, Cher cooked.”

“Outta the way!”

\--

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” a loud voice roared.

“Keep your voice down, Zayn. Do you want to attract Erasers?”

Zayn frowned. “Sorry, Liam.”

Liam nodded. “Apology accepted but I shit you not. I saw Geneva die. She’s probably being tortured in Hell as we speak.”

“Damn it. I bet you it was that damn Cardle bastard again.” Zayn grumbled, ready to find Matt and torture the shit out of him.

“No, actually. It was Tomlinson.”

“That one?”

“Yeah and another one. Had blonde hair and he sounded like he was from Ireland or something. I think his name was Niall.” Liam explained.

“Niall?”

Liam and Zayn turned their heads to their little brother who was lying in the back of Liam’s old truck. He was quiet up until this point. Harry never really cared much for these kinds of conversations.

“Yes, Harry. Do you know him?”

Harry shook his head. “Erm…no. I just heard his name a few times.”

Liam could tell his brother was lying but he ignored it. No use in arguing over it. “I think he’s a rookie,” He stated. “He didn’t do too much to Geneva; not as much damage as she did him. Tomlinson’s probably his mentor.”

“Great,” Zayn growled, his brown eyes flaring red in annoyance before changing back to their original color. “We got another Eraser asshole to take care of.  I’ll enjoy tearing his limbs off.”

Liam caught Harry flinch inside the trunk. He didn’t call attention to it but he did keep it in mind.

Harry had a connection with this Niall kid…

 


	3. Chapter 2

_The flames were all that Niall could see. The corpses of his parents had been consumed by the fire long ago and it looked as if Niall was soon to meet the same fate. Though, at this point, Niall didn’t even try to avoid it. Everything was gone. His parents, his love, his house; there was no point in living on._

_He coughed and wheezed, inhaling the fumes and smoke. “I’m gonna die…” was all he could manage. He couldn’t scream for help; no one would hear him. If God didn’t even hear him, who else would?_

_He heard the wood snap as a signal that the house was beginning to break down. There was no way out._

_The tears streamed down his face as realization set in. Everything was over. It’s all going to end like this and there’s nothing he could do._

_He felt the flames getting closer; too close. It was beginning to burn. He cried out._

_“It hurts…” he croaked, curling up into a ball and crying into his knees._

“Nialler!!!”

Niall let out a squeak before falling out of the bed of the guest bedroom Cher had let him and Louis use for the night.

“Ow…” he groaned, getting to his feet and coming face to face with a grinning Louis.

Niall grimaced. “The hell are you doin in my bed?” he growled.

“You were crying and screaming in your sleep…again.”

Niall hushed at that. He was  _screaming_?

Louis sat up, running a hand through his short chestnut hair. “The only time you shut up is when I got in bed with you and held you…sort of. I guess you needed comfort.”

Niall clenched his fist. “I…I don’t need you babying me.” He said but it was low; not truth completely behind it.

“It wasn’t babying, really.” Louis replied. “You had another nightmare about your parents; that stuff doesn’t just go away.”

Niall and Louis’ eyes met; Niall still being stubborn as he always was and Louis challenging him. Two could play that game.

Niall finally broke the stare-down with a scoff and tossed Louis his jacket.

“Fuck off, perv.” He joked. “You just wanted to sleep in my bed.”

Louis laughed as he caught the article of clothing. That was his boy.

“Erm, excuse me.”

The Eraser turned their heads to Aiden who stood in the doorway with a small smile.

“Yes, Addy?” Louis asked cheekily and Aiden frowned.

“Don’t call me that.” He scolded him. “Matt needs you two downstairs.”

\--

“What’s the sitch, Wade?” Louis asked, shuffling down the spiral staircase and heading to the breakfast counter where Matt was typing away on his laptop. Matt shot him a humorous look at the reference before turning the laptop to Louis.

“There’s been a series of fires in this area. It’s mostly been house fires; almost no one gets out alive and there are satanic blood marks left behind.  We think it’s a demon.” Matt explained.

“Ooh, a little pyro.” Louis remarked.

Niall raised an eyebrow. “How do you know it’s not just another group of Satanists? They do freaky shit like that, right?”

Cher came up behind Matt, sitting beside him. “Yeah, they do. But the only survivor of the fires gave the police a really unusual report.” She added.

“The only survivor of the seven house fires, Paije Richardson, said he saw red eyes and black skin.” Matt said, turning to look at Niall. “That sound like normal Satanists to you?”

“Got it. No freaky Satan worshippers.” Louis said. “Any pattern of the arsons?”

“Yeah, actually.” Aiden said, showing them some pictures of the victims and their families. “John Adeleye; a few weeks ago, his girlfriend was dying with cancer. Two days later, she made an unnaturally fast recovery and was practically cured. Mary Byrne; she was poor as a dog and was singing on the streets for money to support her family. A week later, she was rolling in dough from the contract she signed with a hotshot record company. All the murders took place around midnight. You get it?”

Louis frowned. “Deals with the Devil.”

“Damn straight; we think the next one is going to take place here with a girl named Treyc Cohen. Her deal was similar to Mary’s. First, she was a talented nobody and then, she was signed and getting richer by the minute. Now you can take this on just the two of you or, if you think you need back-up, one of us can come with you.” Matt said.

Louis and Niall exchanged determined looks before turning back to Matt.

Louis mock-saluted the veteran Eraser. “I think we got it, Mattie.”

Matt smirked and nodded.

“Hey!” Cher yelled as the boys started on their way. She held out two different things wrapped in cloth for them both. “Take these.” She said, turning her head so she didn’t have to face either of them.

Louis smirked. “Aww, did little Cher-bear have a gift for me and Nialler?”

Her face heated up. “Shut up! They’ll just help on the job you prick!” she hissed to Louis’ amusement.

Niall unwrapped the cloth for his that revealed a pair of Beretta 92 pistols. With a smile, he held them up and examined it.

“You got us new guns?” he asked her and she nodded, shoving her hands in the pockets of her ripped jeans. “Yeah, yours were kinda old. Wouldn’t work too well now. I added bullets, too; holy water is inside them for the demons.”

Louis held up his two new S&W 4506 pistols with a smirk. “Nice choices.” He commented and Cher shrugged.

“I got a thing for weapons; it’s a bit unhealthy, I think.”

“Cher-bear, our entire lives are unhealthy.”

\--

Niall watched the GPS as Louis drove towards the shelter where a victim was staying as a result of the arson. Paije Richardson was the only person who had any recall of what happened and could have been of some help to them.

“We’re here.” Niall said as Louis began to pull into the shelter.

“As if I didn’t know that. Niall, that GPS you had me install is pretty useless. I know my way around.”

“Yes, and that’s why we got lost in the middle of Bradford a year ago, right? Because you know your way around?” Niall retorted.

“Who’s the mentor?” Louis reminded Niall, getting close to his face and Niall gave him a quick slap on the cheek.

“Come on, you idiot.”

\--

“And you said the people who burned your house down had black skin and red eyes?” Louis asked Paije.

The boys had lied to get into the shelter, said they were friends of Paije, and then lied to him to get a conversation going; telling him their house had burned down not too long ago.

The boy looked traumatized. He had bags under his eyes; his eyes themselves were dark and lifeless and he was constantly fidgeting. He couldn’t look either of them in the face. Niall felt sympathy for him; Paije’s family died in that fire just like his had.

Paije nodded. “I know you think I sound crazy. Everyone did. But that’s what I saw.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy.” Niall spoke and Paije looked up at him in surprise. Niall gave him a warm smile in response. Paije returned it.

“Thanks. But the oddest thing about it was that, they didn’t look like that at first.” He muttered.

This caught their attention. “What do you mean?”

“At first, they looked like two normal boys. I remember one having curly hair and the other black hair that kinda stuck up like this.” Paije held his hands up to show them.

“Then they just morphed into…monsters and, before I knew it, the place was on fire and my family…” he began to sniff and his eyes watered. “ It was unreal…all of it was.”

Louis and Niall exchanged looks; as if speaking with their eyes.

\--

“Great; so these bastards are clever.” Louis said as he and Niall drove towards this Treyc girl’s place.

“They can change form.” Niall said. “I thought all demons could do that.”

“There are only two things a demon could do and that’s possession and shape-shifting. The smart ones can change their form. Others possess and some just walk around in their true form, clear as day and kill as much as they like.”

“So these guys…”

“They’ve been around for a while.”

They pulled up near Treyc’s mansion. Niall whistled in approval.

“Devil’s done her good, huh?” he remarked.

“It won’t mean anything if she’s dead.” Louis replied and the two proceeded towards the door.

Louis pressed the doorbell and a tall, girl with long auburn hair and dark brown eyes answered. She was in a thin, short robe looked as if she just got out of the shower. She smiled at the boys as Louis let his eyes wander.

“Yes, how may I help you?”

Louis was about to say something vulgar until Niall spoke up.

“We’re from the record company and we need you too approve of some things for us real quick. I hope it isn’t a bother.” He said, putting on his best polite smile.

“No, of course not. Come in.” she gestured them inside and Niall followed, Louis behind.

“Dude, look at her bum.” Louis whispered, earning him a smack from his apprentice.

“Stop thinking with your dick for once, will ya?” Niall whispered back.

Treyc sat on a couch nearby and crossed her legs. “So what do you need approved, Boys?”

Louis smiled sweetly at her before saying, “Whether or not you earned all of this yourself.”

Treyc cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Louis shrugged. “We want to know if you got this from hard work and perseverance or if you had a little—or rather big help from someone else.”

Treyc stood up. “I don’t understand what you mean. You’re not from the record company, are you?” she asked, frantically, backing away.

Niall spoke up. “Treyc, we know what you did; how you made it to the top so quickly; the deal you made.”

He could see her hand easing closer to the nearby telephone. “The deal I made with the record company? Yeah, so what?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Louis said, stepping closer. “The deal you made with the devil.”

She paused. Niall knew for sure then. “You….you’re crazy. I’m calling the police. You better—“

“What?” Niall asked. “Leave? You may not realize it but we’re trying to help you here.”

Treyc furrowed her brow. “Help me?”

Niall nodded. “People are dying Treyc; they’re dying because they made deals with Satan just like you. We’re trying to save you.”

Treyc laughed but it was a nervous one. “Dying? No, that wasn’t in the deal—“

“But your soul was; and from the looks of it, you still have yours. Treyc, you can’t screw the Devil over. He always wins in the end.” Louis said.

It was silent for a moment, Treyc finally taking her hand away from the telephone and eyes widening in realization. She thought that she’d be safe; that she could get away with it. Now she’s hearing about people dying. She had read the papers; about the house-fires; the victims; and the Satanic activity. She ignored it; brushed it off and that had been a huge mistake.

She looked at the two closely, studying them; as if trying to determine if what they said was the truth or not and finally asked, “Who are you?”

“We’re Erasers.” Niall answered, Louis nodding in confirmation. “We kill demons.”

Treyc gave them one last once-over one more time before finally relaxing.

“What do you need me to do?”

\--

Treyc watched as the boys loaded their pistols and talked the plan over.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What can bullets do to demons? Aren’t they dead already?”

Niall nodded. “Yes, they are. But we put holy water inside them. You know how priests use holy water to exorcise demons out of people?”

Treyc nodded.

“So it’s kinda the same here. One shot to the head and they’re dead.”

“So you’re like The Exorcist?” she asked with a small smirk.

“Yeah,” Louis added. “But more badass.”

Treyc giggled and the boys went into hiding.

The plan was for Treyc to wait for the demons to come at midnight; then they’d attack.

It was around 11:55; five more minutes. Treyc tried to be cool about everything; tried to believe the boys were right when they said she’d be safe and that they’d handle it all. She  _tried._

Right now, she was fidgeting like crazy. Her legs were shaking and her eyes darting around the room and onto the clock to check the time. Her heart felt as if it was vibrating; her breathing uneasy. How could anyone be calm when they were basically waiting on demons with the intention of ending her life?

There was a knock on the door and Treyc felt her breath catch in her throat. Her eye shot to the clock.

_12:00_

It was mocking her. She hesitantly got up to her feet, looking back and receiving thumbs-up from Louis. She didn’t feel anymore assured but she stepped towards the door. Swallowing hard, she opened the door, and there stood two boys who looked about 16-18 years in age.

One was tall with light brown eyes and curly blonde hair. He looked bored; unenthusiastic. The other was about the same height; his skin was darker than the others and his hair was black and went upwards. The way he looked was a bit more frightening; he had a mischievous grin on his face and a crazed look in his brown eyes. He looked bloodthirsty and anxious.

“Hello,” the curly-haired boy said in a polite tone. “Are you Treyc Cohen?”

Treyc nodded and she noticed the black-haired one’s smile grow even bigger.

“Good.” He said and then both boys’ eyes turned a deep red. Treyc screamed from both shock and fear.

That’s when the gunshots started.

“Get down, Treyc!” Niall yelled and Treyc obeyed immediately.

Louis jumped out of his hiding place, looking around frantically. “Where did they go?” he asked.

“Boo.”

 Louis whirled around and was met with a fist to his jaw that sent him flying across the room.

The black-haired one smirked down at him. “As if we didn’t know Treyc found herself a couple of Eraser douche bags.” He sneered.

Meanwhile, Niall had found himself flung outside by the other demon. He was lying on the grass, pistol still in hand when the demon looked down at him.

It was odd; when he looked down at Niall, it wasn’t with taunting eyes. He was just looking at him; as if studying a specimen.

“Niall Horan,” he spoke and Niall backed away from him. “So this is Harry’s little problem?”

Niall was confused now. Who the hell was Harry? What was this guy talking about?

He attempted to point the gun at the monster only for it to fly out of his hands and into the demon’s instead.

“Telekinesis,” it said. “I’m sure you’ve heard of it. I’m rather gifted.”

He pointed the gun at Niall and was about to pull the trigger when…

“Liam!” The demon, now known as Liam, turned around to face a young boy—at least that’s what it looked like to Niall under the glow of the street-lights. His hair was curly, like Liam’s, but his hair was a dark brown and his eyes an emerald green. He looked human but Niall knew the truth.

“Harry. What are you doing? I thought you didn’t want to participate.” Liam said.

“I don’t.” Harry said, eyes glancing at Niall for a quick second. “But Zayn’s been shot by Tomlinson. He’s not dead but its dangerous. We can’t stay here.” Liam looked at Niall and after a while, dropped the gun.

“We’ll meet again, Eraser.” Liam said before running off in search of his brother.

Niall watched him go until he felt eyes on him and he whipped his head around and his eyes met those of Harry’s.

They were quiet for a while until Harry broke the silence.

“You look different.” He said and Niall furrowed his brow.

“Wha—“

Before he could finish, Harry was gone. He blinked.  _What the hell just happened?_

“Nialler!” Niall looked up to see Louis and Treyc running towards him, Louis holding his arm which was bleeding.

“Are you okay?” Treyc asked, kneeling down.

Niall nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

\--

“Fucking Tomlinson, I’ll fucking kill him. Goddamnit, this hurts!” Zayn cursed from his seat in the truck.

“Well cursing and whining won’t kill him, so shut up.” Liam sighed.

Harry just lied in the trunk; arms folded behind his head as he studied the night sky. There were so many stars and constellations. Stars were always something Harry liked about Earth.

They didn’t have pretty things like this in Hell.

“Hey,” Zayn’s voice called. He had peeked his head out of the back window. He always did that; it was his way of checking up on Harry. That was his little brother. When Zayn did things like that, it was kinda easy to forget that he was a bloodthirsty killer.

“What cha doin’?” he asked.

“Watching the stars.” He replied. “I think they’re nice.”

Zayn frowned up a little. “You’re so weird.”

Harry smiled at Zayn. “Thanks.”

Zayn turned back to facing the windshield and Harry continued his star-gazing.

_So he’s an Eraser now, huh? Well, that makes things complicated._


	4. Chapter 3

Louis winced as Cher applied the ice to his swollen jaw.

“Damn it…” he said through gritted teeth. He was sitting on Cher’s counter, his shirt off to reveal the bruises from his brawl with Zayn.

Niall, Louis, and Treyc went straight to Cher’s after the encounter. Louis was bruised and beaten from his brawl and as long as Treyc was still alive, the demons would be back for more.

Treyc was sitting on the couch beside Niall, twitching and fresh tears running down her face. She felt terrified, confused, and helpless. This was all sprung on her; all new and now she’s stuck. Niall had his arm around her shoulders to give her some sense of protection but she was still shaking. She’d never be okay.

“Damn,” Cher remarked. “This Zayn demon really threw you around.”

Louis glared at her. “Shut it. He was strong as hell. It’s not like I didn’t throw in my share of blows but he was quick...and excited. He  _enjoyed_ the fight.” Louis felt sick to his gut as he remembered that crazed murderous look in Zayn’s crimson eyes. He didn’t want to imagine what kind of crazy that guy was back when he was still human.

“And where is he now? Did you kill him?” Aiden questioned. Louis shook his head.

“Nah, they ran off. I tried to shoot that Zayn but I only got him in the abdomen; not the head. He rushed out of the house and we didn’t see him again.”

“And the other one? You said there was two.” Matt asked and Louis shrugged.

“Niall had that one.”

Matt and Aiden turned to Niall, whom they had noted didn’t have not a scratch on him.

Strange.

“He let me go and ran off with Zayn.” Niall said.

“Let you go?” Cher tossed Louis his shirt back which landed on his head.

Niall nodded. It confused him, too. Each time he was on a hunt, he never had a demon that just let him go. If a demon was on Earth, it was because they had a plan or because they wanted to wreak some havoc. Erasers stood in the way of that so they usually didn’t let one go; they killed them and didn’t let anything stop them from doing that.

It’s kill or be killed.

So when Liam left, Niall felt confused and slightly frightened. The most confusing part was Harry, though. He didn’t even attempt to  _harm_ Niall, let alone kill him. He just spoke to him and what he said, Niall didn’t even understand the meaning of.

_“You look different.”_

“Yeah,” Niall spoke. “With a third one. I think his name was Harry.”

“Harry? Like Harry Potter?” Cher asked and Niall smiled a bit.

“Well, the name yeah.” Niall said.

“Did he do anything?” asked Aiden and Niall shook his head.

“Not really, no. Just kind of looked at me. I heard the other one say that Harry didn’t want to participate.”

Aiden frowned in confusion, turning to his mentor, Matt.

“Matt?”

“This is unusual.” Matt said, running his hands through short, brown locks. His brow was furrowed, eyes concentrated. Matt always had the answer to everything; his career starting when he was thirteen and expanding to now, as he’s twenty-seven. He’s had more experience than anyone in the room; second in line was Louis, and he’s done it all; looked every type demonic bastard in the face and sent them back to hell.

Matt’s made his mark. And now something was happening that even he couldn’t fathom. Niall and Louis grew worried.

“They’re dangerous, obviously.” Matt said after a while. “They’re debt collectors and shape-shifters is all I know so far. Can you remember anything else, Niall?”

Niall’s thoughts went back to the hunt. “Telekinesis.” He spoke and Cher raised an eyebrow.

“Teleki-what now?”

“Telekinesis.” Niall repeated. “It’s something Liam said. I think it’s an ability or something.”

“The ability to move matter with the mind.” Aiden spoke. Niall and Louis looked at him.

“So he’s like Carrie White?” Louis asked and Cher snorted.

“Something like that. It’s an ability that takes serious intelligence and concentration. It’s not common amongst demons.” Niall and Louis exchanged nervous glances.

“W-what does that mean?” Treyc asked nervously. She was tense under Niall’s arms and Niall wished she hadn’t of made that deal; so she wouldn’t be like this.

“They’re dangerous.” Matt told them, getting to his feet. “You should probably let me and Aiden handle them. I don’t want you—“

“Not necessary.” Louis said, slipping on his shirt and picking up his bag. He smiled at Matt.

“Me and Nialler started this job. We’re gonna finish it.”

“Louis, I know that. But these things can seriously hurt you. I think—“

“Everyday something can, and usually does, seriously hurt us, Mattie.” Louis said. “I know we’re dealing with a couple of BAMF’s, but this is OUR job and I know you care but we’re doing this.”

Matt and Louis’ eyes locked for a moment, silent words being expressed between them before Matt sighed in defeat.

“Fine, go on. Just don’t get yourself killed.”

Louis laughed. “Alright! Location, please?”

Aiden held out some papers to Louis. “You’re heading to Brighton, boys. Some kid named Frankie Cocozza who made a deal to save his sister.”

Louis took the papers. “Got it.” He turned to Niall. “Ready, Nialler?”

“Of course, Louis.” He removed his arm from around Treyc and stood. He saw her cringe and he stopped to look down at her. He forced a smile.

“It’s okay, Treyc.” He said. “You’ll be here with Matt, Aiden, and Cher. They’ll keep you safe. They won’t let them get you.”

Treyc nodded but her head was to the floor. Niall’s smile faded and he headed out the door to Louis.

“She’s really scared.” He mused.

“She’s traumatized and who wouldn’t be after what happened?” Louis replied. Niall sighed and slid in the old Cadillac beside Louis, letting his thoughts drift as they headed to Brighton.

_“You look different.”_

\--

“AH!! FUCK!!” Liam’s deadpan expression didn’t change as his brother screamed profanities. He twisted his hand, the bullet in Zayn’s abdomen coming out more by another inch.

“Shit, Liam! This hurts! Can’t you just pull the damn thing out already?! Like ripping off a Band-Aid—OW!!”

Liam frowned. “Perhaps if it was that easy; I hope you don’t think I enjoy causing you pain. But, it needs to be extracted carefully.”

Zayn winced. “Fuck you, fucking Sadist.” He sneered and Liam just continued.

“You wanna hold my hand?” Harry asked with a cheeky smirk on his face and Zayn glared.

“I wanna rip your fucking throat-OW!!!”

Harry snickered. “You should really keep your voice down.” He said. “Or Big-Bad-Louis-Tomlinson might come back and finish the job.”

“As if anyone would find us out here you little prick.” Zayn sneered. Harry shrugged, looking around the old cabin.

The cabin was far from society, last used by a couple of drug dealers who didn’t want to be detected (both of whom Zayn murdered to get the place).

It was good for avoiding Erasers.

The bullet made a ‘clink’ noise as it hit the floor. Zayn let out a sigh of relief, the hole in his abdomen already beginning to regenerate.

“There.” Liam said, using his telekinesis to crush the anti-demon weapon. “Was that so bad?”

“I don’t know. How about I shoot you and find out?” Zayn replied sarcastically and Liam rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. You know we lost the girl, right?” Liam said, sitting back on the couch and Harry flopped beside him.

“Big deal. We can kill her another time. We got that Cocozza kid tonight, don’t we?” Zayn replied and Liam nodded.

“Yes. I hope you plan to follow through on your words. Father won’t like it if we didn’t get each one on the list.”

Zayn rolled his eyes. “He ain’t no father of mine.”

Liam had stopped caring about Zayn’s comment on their father long ago. He was always rebellious; refusing to bow down to anyone and preferring to kill anyone to high and mighty for his liking.

“Right, I forgot that.” Liam responded. “Harry, still not ready to join?”

Harry looked at his brother.

Throughout all of their missions, Harry never joined them. Zayn and Liam were the debt collectors and Harry just stayed in the truck, watching out for Erasers or gazing at the stars. Whenever his brothers asked him to join, he always declined. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t do it; he had just enough strength and ability as Zayn and Liam. He just never saw any need to do. If Harry felt like fucking shit up; he’d do it for fun not as a job.

Plus, since he saw his little Irish Eraser boy, he had better thing in mind.

“No, not yet.” Harry replied and Liam nodded in understanding. He motioned for Zayn to follow him to the truck, leaving Harry alone.

A smirk formed on the youngest brother’s face.

“I’ve got something better to do.”

\--

“Louis what the hell are we doing here?”

Louis chomped down on his burger, seemingly ignoring Niall’s death glare. He gave Niall a quick glance.

“You know you look like a cute little kitten, right? You are NOT intimidating, Horan.”

Niall tossed a fry at him. “We’ve got a job to do and you’re eating fast food! We can’t afford to screw this up!”

“Dude,” Louis started. “We’ve got until midnight to be at this Frankie kid’s place. We’ve got time. Besides, can’t fight hell-spawn on an empty stomach.”

Niall shook his head. “Only you.” He muttered, taking a bite of his own burger.

_“And in earlier news. There was a fire at the Longhill University dormitories, killing about 20 students and injuring 15. Most students have gotten out safely….”_

Niall frowned. “That’s such a shame.”

Louis nodded. “Yeah…”

When the boys returned to the car, the ride to Brighton was a silent one. The news report lingered on Niall’s mind. He hated things like that. Why couldn’t the news talk about something good for once? When they got to the Cocozza house, it wasn’t what they were expecting.

The house was small and looked as if it was going to break down with rotting wood.

“He’s poor, isn’t he?”

Louis nodded. “It said in those papers Aiden gave me that his sister tried to kill herself because the kids picked on her because she was poor. Frankie made a deal to save her when she was in the hospital.”

Niall frowned. He knew that deals with Satan was wrong; he knew. Treyc’s reason was sort of selfish but Frankie’s….he felt sorry for the kid. He was poor and he just wanted his sister to be okay.

Was it really that wrong?

Louis patted him on the back. “It’s okay. “ Louis said, as if reading Niall’s mind. Niall nodded, getting himself together. “Come on, let’s go.”

Both Erasers reached for their pistols, cocking them as they approached the door.

Niall knocked on the door, only for it to lean in. It was open.

“The hell? It’s open.” Niall murmured.

Louis and Niall shared confused looks and they rushed inside.

The house was empty; no one in sight and dead silent. It was dark except for the light from the kitchen and everything was neatly placed.

“Maybe non one’s home?” Louis joked.

“And I’m sure they just left the doors open to not give the robbers to much trouble.” Niall replied sarcastically, traveling to the kitchen to look for anything suspicious.

Louis stared questioningly at the staircase before climbing up.

The hall was dark and the floorboards creaked as Louis took steady steps towards a blue light at the end of the hallway.

It was like every creepy horror movie scene you saw in the theatres where that one idiot goes off by themselves and get killed. But Louis had a job to do so he had to be that idiot.

He reached the door and pushed it open slowly, pistol in one hand. He opened it fully and nearly gagged at the sight he saw.

“Fuck.” Was all he could manage.

Their was high-top clad feet dangling from the ceiling, turning in a circle as the fan spun the light illuminating from the television glowing on the lifeless body.

“It’s a shame, really.” A voice said and his head whipped around to meet jade green eyes, glinting with mischief.

“He did all of that to save her and it still happened. She still did it. Must be fate, huh?”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Who the fuck are you?”

“More like what.” The boy grinned as jade eyes flickered blood red. “Harry Styles, pleased to meet your acquaintance Mr. Tomlinson.” He cocked his head. “I heard you shot my brother.”

Louis glared at the demon and pointed the gun. No time to play the kid’s little game. “What the hell did you do?”

Harry smiled and replied with an innocent tone. “Me? I didn’t do anything? I got here and she was like that.” He laughed. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see the news.”

He grabbed a remote off the top of the television and flipped it to the news.

_“And in earlier news. There was a fire at the Longhill University dormitories, killing about 20 students and injuring 15. Most students have gotten out safely. Among the students who have died were 19 year old Misha Bryan, 23-year old Marcus Collins, 18-year old Frankie Cocozza…”_

Harry flipped the TV off just as they showed Frankie’s smiling picture.

“She had it on replay right until the moment she wrapped that rope around her little neck.”

“You did it, didn’t you?”

“Nope, my brothers did. I wanted no part so they burned it down themselves; though it was more of Zayn’s doing.”

Harry smirked. “Does that anger you?”

Louis answered by firing his pistol and Harry disappeared in thin air.

\--

The gunshot was loud and echoed throughout the house. As soon as Niall heard it, he ran up the steps. Louis must’ve found something.

There was a dark flash that flew across his eyes and then a loud impact. He whipped his head around and saw Louis crouching down, holding his abdomen.

“Louis!” he cried. Louis growled, anger and hatred in his eyes and pushed himself back into defensive position.

“You son of a bitch!”

The floor creaked with a footstep.

Niall pointed his gun at the doorway. Harry emerged, an angry expression until he saw Niall and his face lit up.

“Niall.” He said, smiling.

Niall didn’t lower his weapon. “The fuck did you do?”

Harry shrugged. “Not much, yet.” He stepped closer and Niall pulled the trigger.

Again Harry disappeared and reappeared in front Niall, taking the gun by the barrel and lowering it.

“Now you don’t wanna do that.” Louis attempted to tackle the boy until a circle of fire surrounded his ankles.

“Little pyro.” Louis growled.

Harry held his finger up, a flame on the end of it almost mocking Louis.

“We’re not like other demons, Tomlinson. We’ve survived Erasers like you.” He said.

He turned to Niall and held the flame close to the boy with a taunting smile.

“I’m sure you remember this Niall.” Harry chirped.

_“Mommy…”_

_“God help me.”_

_“It hurts…”_

Niall was about to ask Harry how he knew any of that until he felt a pair of soft lips against his own.

Niall’s eyes widened with shock and he shoved Harry off of him. Harry smirked and faded away, the barrier of fire around Louis going with him.

This time he didn’t return.

“Damn it, this ‘to be continued’ shit is getting old.” Louis growled. He looked at Niall.

“Did he kiss you?”

Niall’s eyes were still wide; glassed over as if he was in another world. Louis snapped his fingers in front of his apprentice’s face and Niall blinked.

“H-huh?” he stammered. Louis sighed.

“Never mind, man.”

 “We were too late, right? To save Frankie?” Niall asked suddenly and Louis frowned. He hated when Niall had that look; that look of utter sadness and disappointment.

“Yeah, Nialler. His sister, too. They didn’t strike at midnight; they tricked us.”

Niall bit his lip. “Well they have each other now, right?”

Louis tried to smile. “Yeah, yeah they do.” He glanced at Niall’s troubled-looking face once more.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Niall nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s just go…”

_“I don’t want to be here no more. I’ll die…with mommy and daddy…”_

\--

Harry whistled as he strolled around the Brighton park, hands shoved in his pants pockets. That had gone better than he expected it to. He puckered his lips. Kissing Niall was only a part of the plan but it felt good to him. The kid’s face when he saw the flame; Harry had to restrain himself.

He remembered. He remembered good and well.

“And now the fun begins.”


	5. Chapter 4

_White was the only thing Niall could see. The place he was in; there were no walls, no floors. It felt as if he was floating in a colorless space. His eyes roamed around and he saw nothing._

_“Where the fuck am I?” Niall murmured._

_“Your mind; I have to say, though, it is pretty empty in here.” A voice replied._

_Niall’s head shot up to meet that damn cocky face of Harry’s. Figures…_

_“This is a dream, right?” Niall asked with an unsure voice. With a demon here, there was no telling._

_“If it is, it’s a pretty damn good one; I’m in it. Is this what you normally dream about, Nialler?” Harry was taunting him, smiling at him and mischief glinting in those false green eyes._

_“Don’t call me that.” Niall sneered and Harry cocked his head._

_“Why not?” he asked, almost sounding disappointed. “It’s so cute; fitting for you. Or…” his eyes went dark, flickering a blood red. “Is that name only reserved for Tomlinson?”_

_Niall glared at him. “It’s reserved for people I trust; a demon is automatically out of that category.”_

_Harry pouted. “What if I was a nice demon?” he tested._

_“There’s no such thing as nice demons.”_

_Harry smiled. “True; but I guess you’d know that better than anyone.”_

_Niall snarled. “What the fuck is going on?”_

_Harry returned his snarl with a cheeky grin. “Whatever I want it to be. But, despite the fact that I can, I didn’t bother you without reason.”_

_Niall raised an eyebrow and question._

_“You better watch your back.” Harry said. “See, we’ll be meeting again very soon and the circumstances will be very different.”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_Harry sighed. “You’ll see. But until then…” he snapped his fingers and suddenly, Niall was surrounded by flames. His eyes shot across his new surroundings; blood-splattered walls, charred wood, and…his parents lying there in the middle._

_“No…” he gasped._

“Niall!”

Niall woke up with a gasp, eyes wide and shaking. His cheeks felt wet and his vision was slightly blurry as he looked around the car. They were on the road again. He glanced at the clock.

_10:21 p.m._

Louis glanced at him. “Evening, sleeping beauty.” He said.

Niall glared at him. “Shut up.” He muttered, sitting up in his seat and adjusting his position.

Louis chuckled. “You know you were screaming again.”

Niall wiped his wet eyes. “I figured that much. I’m sorry; was it really bad?”

Louis shook his head. “Nah, not really. It didn’t even last too long this time.”

Niall’s mind flashed back to Harry for a quick second. “Yeah…” he looked out the window at the unfamiliar surroundings.

“We headed to Cher’s?” he asked. Louis shook his head.

“Nope, Nialler.” He didn’t notice Niall’s cringe at the nickname. “There’s paranormal activity in Essex.”

“What kind?” Niall questioned.

Louis shrugged. “I think its demonic possession.” He said. “Some kid shot up his school then claims he can’t remember it at all; he blacked out. A girl pushed her best friend in front of a train and said the same thing. No pattern, either. Other than the fact that it’s all happening in some school.”

Niall clenched his fist. “Damn…” he muttered as he thought about all those people who died for a demon’s entertainment. They were cruel creatures; then had the nerve to talk down about humans.

Humans. Sometimes, Niall often forgot.

Demons were human too at one point. However, they were the lowest kind.

“What about Zayn and Liam? Don’t we have to find them?”

Louis shrugged. “Matt’s list stopped at Frankie Cocozza. And if they come back for Treyc, she’s in good hands. This is a bit more important at the moment seeing as there are no Erasers in Essex. We’ll see them again.”

Niall thought about what Harry said and he silently hoped not.

_“See, we’ll be meeting again very soon and the circumstances will be very different.”_

\--

“Jade, you really should just go. You’ll have fun!”

Jade shook her head frantically at Perrie’s suggestion. There was a school dance coming up in a week. And, just like every year, instead of fretting over what she should wear and what hairstyle she should get, Jade’s only plans were to curl up on the couch with her new book.

She never saw the purpose of school dances or why Perrie was so obsessed with going. They were for high-status students anyway.

“I’ll pass, Perrie. You’ll be fine without me.” Jade said, taking a sip of her soda. She never did eat the school lunch; only got whatever she could from the vending machines.

“Of course she’s not going,” a taunting voice said from behind Perrie. Jade rolled her eyes and turned to glare into the smirking face of Amelia Lily. “I mean, who would take her anyway?” she pinched Jade’s side. “What with all this weight you’ve put on. You think eating a bag of chips and a soda a day will keep the obesity away, Jade?”

“Just because I’m not stick thin like you doesn’t mean I’m fat, Amelia.”

“I’m sure that’s what every sumo wrestler said at one point.” Jade got up from her seat and the girls locked glares.

“Do you honestly think that just because he’s with you now that you’re so much better than me?” Jade sneered.

Perrie sighed. It always did come back down to James. James Michael had been Jade’s boyfriend for freshman and sophomore year until Amelia sunk her claws into him and basically stole him away just to get to Jade.

“No, I was much better than you before I had your little boyfriend.” Amelia said. “The fact that I have him just proves it even more. You know, he told me I was so much more fun than you. He thought you were such a drag.” Amelia smiled as Jade’s angry expression softened. “Does it sting?” she taunted before skipping off in direction of the girl’s bathroom.

Perrie patted Jade on the back. “Forget her. He wasn’t worth it anyway. Neither is she.”

Jade blinked away the tears forming in her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. I…I just need some fresh air, okay?” she gave Perrie a watery smile before rushing outside the building. Perrie would’ve stopped her if she had any hope that it would work.

\--

“Damn her…” Jade whispered as her back slid down the tree she found shade under. She hated to admit it but Amelia really got under her skin.

She loved James.

Amelia was just using him to piss Jade off and what was even worse was that James wasn’t even aware of it.

She knew maybe James wasn’t worth her tears for abandoning her for someone like Amelia but she couldn’t help it. She had truly fallen for him

“Hey.” Jade looked up slowly. There was a boy standing over her. He was wearing the academy uniform; black blazer with the red emblem, red plaid trousers, and a white dress shirt; but Jade didn’t recognize him at all; she couldn’t even remember as one of the regular faces in the hallways. His face showed no sign of emotion and his tone was deadpan.

 Jade attempted to wipe her tears before he knew what she was doing but he just raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong with you?” he questioned and Jade shook her head.

“Nothing.” As if she was going to pour her heart out to some stranger.

“Yes, because everyone cries for no apparent reason, am I right?” he said, taking a seat beside her.

“So what’s really wrong?” Jade gave him an incredulous look.

“Why do you care?” The boy shrugged.

“I don’t like it when girls cry.”

Jade let out a small laugh. “I don’t even know your name.”

The boy grinned at that. “It’s Liam.”

Jade wasn’t sure why but she thought she saw something red in Liam’s eyes as he said that.

\--

“So we’re headed where?” Niall questioned, looking at the pictures Louis had handed him. It was pictures of what, he guessed to be, a boarding school.

“Rosemary’s Academy for the Gifted and Performing Arts. It’s like Victorious.” Louis explained.

Niall raised an eyebrow. “You watch Victorious?”

Louis shrugged. “Jade’s kinda hot.”

Niall snorted. “Yeah, sure.” He replied. “So what are we gonna do there?”

A mischievous smile broke out on Louis’ face as he began to snicker. Niall furrowed his brow.

“What?” he asked.

Louis grinned at him. “Undercover work; you’re going back to school!”

“WHAT?!” Niall shrieked, the pictures flying about the car. “You enrolled me in the school?! Why didn’t I know about any of this?!”

“You were sleeping and come on. It’s not like you won’t pass for a teenager or anything.” He laughed, giving his apprentice a once-over. “You have the height.”

Niall glared at him. He hated when Louis made cracks at his height. “Louis, it’s a gifted and performing arts school.” He reminded him. “I’m an Eraser not a damn performer. How did you even enroll me?”

“Well, there was some French kid that was supposed to be going there but he never showed. So, you’re name is Francis Dubois and you aspire to be an actor, got it?”

Niall rolled his eyes. “This is absolutely ridiculous.” He shot a death glare at his mentor. “And what will you be doing?”

“I’m a janitor.” Louis replied simply and Niall blinked. “Now you better work on that French accent. Can’t have you blowing our cover, can we?”

Niall lied his head against the window. “You are an idiot…” he sighed.

\--

The knife felt good in her grasp; like power. She could eliminate so many lives with this one knife.

But she only chose one.

She watched with amusement as the other girl’s eyes fluttered open. She was bound to a chair in the basement of the school; a rag tied tightly around her pretty little mouth.

“Hmph?” the girl examined her surroundings with a drowsy look.

She had been hit over the head, after all.

“Awoke already, Amelia?”

Amelia looked at her captor before her eyes widened in shock and fear. She screamed but it was muffled by the rag.

“That’s what I like to see. You’re terrified, aren’t you? I like that.”

Amelia began to thrash around frantically, hoping to get away but it was no use. She was bound tight. Her eyes shot up to look into the crazed ones of her captor.

“I bet you didn’t think I’d take it this far, did you?” her captor taunted. “Thankfully, I found someone to give me a little wake-up call.” She dragged the knife down Amelia’s cheek, leaving a red trail behind her and Amelia felt the tears run down her face as she winced in pain.

As she opened her eyes, she could see a figure step from the shadows of the dark basement. They wore the school uniform and appeared to be male. Her captor spun on their heel.

“Liam!” she chirped happily, running to him and hugging him close. The boy, Liam, didn’t return it; only looked down at her with an unreadable expression.

“Jade,” he addressed. “Are you having fun?”

Jade nodded enthusiastically. “I was just about to finish her off. Then we can go to the dance together, right sweetie?”

“Yeah,” Liam said, grabbing her wrist and directing her back towards Amelia, knife jutting outwards.

Amelia’s eyes widened in fear and she shook her head, protesting muffled words. Liam only watched.

“I don’t pity humans,” he said. “You’re all equally disgusting creatures and not deserving of sympathy. Especially those who think much too highly of themselves.”

Amelia let out a confused sound until she felt the blade plunge right through her heart and a high-pitched cackle as she bled.

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Liam’s eyes flickering red.

\--

“Francis Dubois?” Principal Walsh asked and Niall nodded enthusiastically, as if he was excited to be there.

He spent the whole night practicing a French accent and acting like a teenager again. By the time he finished, he started to think maybe he could be an actor after all.

_‘Starring Niall Horan’_

Sounded good to him.

“Oui, oui,” Niall replied in his perfected French accent. “I come to the United Kingdom to act, sir.” He said.

Mr. Walsh examined him for a minute, his mouth in a thin line that made his forehead wrinkle and his eyes like dagger to Niall but Niall kept in character. Mr. Walsh laughed. “Well, it’s nice to have you, Francis. Here’s your uniform,” he handed Niall a box. “And Eleanor here will show you your dorm.”

There was a girl behind him, her hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore the female variation of the uniform; a white button up shirt with the first two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the blazer tied around her waist, a red plaid skirt, and a pair of sneakers. She had a bored expression on her face as she leaned against the doorframe.

She motioned to the exit at Niall. “Come on, new kid.” She ordered and Mr. Walsh gave her a disapproving look for the name.

She shrugged it off and Niall followed her to the exit.

“So you’re really excited to come here, huh?” Eleanor asked as the two walked towards the dorms.

“Oui, oui,” Niall exclaimed with false enthusiasm. “Very excited.”

“Haven’t you heard about the murders?” Eleanor questioned skeptically. “There was a shooting and a girl killed her friend, aren’t you the least bit scared?”

Niall thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.

 “Not really.”

Eleanor shot him a stunned look before she smirked at him. “You’re a weird one. I like that.” She held her hand out. “Eleanor Calder.”

Niall took her hand and shook it. He was about to say ‘Niall Horan’ until he remembered his job.

“Erm…Francis Dubois.”

“Cool.” Eleanor nodded as they dropped their hands.

She pointed to a grey complex. “That’s the boys’ dorms.” She stated. “The beige building is the girls’ dorms. And if I catch you where you’re not supposed to be like a lot of these hormone-crazy perverts,” she gave Niall a playful glare but said the next sentence in all seriousness. “I’ll kick your fucking ass.”

Niall gulped and nodded in reply. “Yes, ma’am.”

 _‘Note to self, don’t this chick off.’_ He thought. She smiled and handed him some papers.

“This is your schedule, your dorm number and your keys. Your textbooks and shit are in your room. Call me whenever you need something, alright?”

“Merci.” Niall smiled and Eleanor raised an eyebrow before laughing a bit.

“Yeah, sure.”

\--

Niall was glad that his dorm was empty when he arrived. The walls were clear of posters and it was basically empty accept for two beds and a desk.

No roommate; thank God.

“Boo!”

“Fuck off, Louis.” Niall sighed and he heard Louis make a disappointed noise from behind him.

“You’re no fun,” he muttered but then perked up again. “Dude, check out the wardrobe.”

Niall turned to look at Louis in his blue janitor outfit and hat and he snorted. “Very stylish, Lou.” He said sarcastically. Only Louis would be happy to dress up like a custodian.

“I know, right?” Louis said, digging in his pockets. “Look what I found.”

He held up a paper with a girl’s face on it, waving it around playfully.

_‘MISSING STUDENT; Amelia Lily; 17 years old; 5’6; about 120 lbs. Please contact Principal Louis Walsh if you know any information’_

Niall studied it for a minute. “You think it was a demon?” he asked.

Louis shrugged. “I think I could be. I mean two weird things have already happened at this school. It wouldn’t be unlikely.”

“Yeah…” Niall murmured. “Mind if I keep this?”

“No problem. I’ll just rip another one off a wall.” Louis ruffled Niall’s hair.

“See ya.” With that, Louis spun on his heel and walked down the hall, whistling as he went.

“Amelia Lily, huh?”

\--

 _‘So he came just like I thought.’_ Harry mused as he glanced up at Niall’s dorm window from the truck. He and his brothers had arrived in Essex some time ago to stir up some trouble but not without reason; to draw in Horan and Tomlinson.

“He’s stupid,” he determined. “But I guess this’ll work to my advantage.”

He felt the car rock some as Liam fell in, lying his head in Zayn’s lap, exhaustedly.

“Back already?” Harry questioned, sitting up and looking at his older brother with curious eyes.

“It was much too easy to control her. Minds are most vulnerable when under emotional distress. Especially that of a teenage girl.” Liam spoke, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Harry nodded. That was something about Liam that scared Harry; how he could control someone’s mind like that. It didn’t work on all people; like most Erasers for example whose minds were always on guard, but on those of vulnerable, regular humans.

Sometimes it worked on demons as well, but he rarely used it on them.

Harry always thought Liam’s mind was a terrifying thing.

“Why can’t we just kill the kid now?” Zayn grumbled.

“Too obvious,” Liam yawned, rolling over on his side. “Then they’ll leave and we’ll have to draw them in all over again. Give it time; you’ll have Tomlinson soon.”

Zayn growled. “I better.”

Harry silently doubted it.

_‘My plans may have to interfere with that, brother.’_


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (2016): Just a warning but there's mentions of school shootings and murders in this chapter. If that triggers you, please don't read this.

_Niall’s eyes snapped open as he looked around the familiar white empty space._

_He was lying in thin air, and he was scared to move as he looked down. He couldn’t tell how far he was from the ground but he wasn’t sure what would happen if he lost control. He gulped as he attempted to keep his stiff position._

_“You won’t die,” Harry’s voice echoed throughout the space and Niall snapped his head to glare at him, a mixture of worry and anger in his sky blue eyes._

_“You’re doing this again?” Niall sneered. “Do you just get a kick out of fucking with my head or what?”_

_Harry chuckled at Niall’s choice of words. “Yeah, you could say that. Though, once again, it’s pretty empty in here. Not too much to fuck with.”_

_“What’s going on?” Niall asked, looking curiously upwards. “What do you want out of this? I doubt you’re doing this to be friends, bastard.”_

_Harry shrugged. “Perhaps,” He said, stepping closer to Niall who was still suspended in the air._

_“What does it have to do with me? If you want me dead—“_

_“Dead?” Harry interrupted, a mischievous smile on his face. “Now why would I want that?”_

_Niall scowled. “I’m an Eraser for one.” He reminded Harry who’s expression didn’t change._

_“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, “We’re not sworn enemies just because of that, are we? There’s plenty of your kind I want dead; just not you.”_

_Niall blinked. “You’re not making sense.”_

_“Anything other than killing wouldn’t make sense to you.” Harry replied, his tone almost bitter._

_Niall was about to reply until Harry grabbed his hand. He flinched back by instinct but Harry’s grip tightened, causing the Eraser to wince. That was the thing about demons; they were stronger than any human could ever hope to be. Lifting a car with only one hand was their equivalent of lifting a pencil._

_And, if Harry wanted, he could’ve snapped Niall’s arm like a twig with the flick of his wrist._

_Niall glared at Harry. “What are you doing?”_

_“Let yourself go. You aren’t going to fall.” Harry replied in a calm tone and Niall glanced down._

_“Why should I trust you?”_

_Harry sighed. “Because if you don’t, you’ll never wake up.” He said in a bored tone. “I have complete control of your unconscious state at the moment.”_

_Niall hesitated for a minute, shooting Harry a dirty look which only seemed to amuse the demon, before begrudgingly shutting his eyes tight and let his body go limp._

_Suddenly, it felt like the gravity keeping him suspended just slid out from under him and he landed on a solid surface below; Harry making sure he didn’t fall._

_They looked at each other for a while, Niall’s usual hatred-filled glare replaced with something more of suspicion and puzzlement._

_He didn’t get this thing; why it hadn’t killed him when it had so many chances. Maybe Harry was playing at something; to a bigger plan but as he looked at the boy’s smug grin, he couldn’t find a trace of evil intentions._

_But he’d try._

_“You don’t trust me.” Harry said, smile not wavering at all. “And you have reason but no matter how much you look and try to urge me; I’m not going to hurt you, kid.”_

_Niall laughed bitterly. “So what are you?” he sneered. “A good guy?”_

_Harry smirked. “Oh no,” he said. “Far from it. I went to Hell for a reason, you know.”_

_Niall gulped. He almost forgot about that; demons had to have been some really evil people before they had died._

_To go to a place like Hell; you had to be of the lowest kind. People like mass murderers and rapists burned in Hell._

_He looked up at Harry as he remembered this and he silently wondered what Harry could’ve done to deserve such a fate._

_There was so much behind that clever grin of his and it honestly scared the crap out of Niall knowing that._

_“So, if you’re not planning on hurting me, what do you want?”_

_Harry smiled and it was almost a sad smile; another reason behind it as Niall attempted to decipher it._

_“You don’t remember.” He spoke and, Niall suddenly noticed, he had finally released Niall’s hand. He began to fade; starting from his hand as he formed into dust and disappeared._

_“Damn it, no!” Niall yelled, reaching out to Harry. “Wait!”_

**RING! RING!!**

“Ah!” Niall shot up, his eyes wide and sweat running down his brow as the alarm clock in his room went off wildly.

He didn’t stop it; just breathed as he recalled the encounter with Harry.

_“You don’t remember.”_

“Remember what?” Niall whispered to himself. He got no reply, as expected, before he groaned and ran his fingers through his tousled hair.

_‘Damn him…’_

\--

Louis switched through the pages on Niall’s laptop with a bored expression. He had no idea how long he’d been doing this. He had hacked into the school system a while ago to find the Amelia’s record, thanks to Matt’s instruction from his early Eraser years, he knew how to do it with no problem

“Amelia Lily…” he muttered. There was little he knew about the girl other than the talk from the hallways.

Apparently, she wasn’t too well-liked.

_‘Do you think she’s dead?’_

_‘Shit, if the bitch did get killed, it wouldn’t surprise me. She’s at the top of everybody’s kill list.”_

_‘Maybe someone finally snapped and just did it…’_

_‘Or maybe she was sneaking out and being stupid like always and finally got snatched up.’_

From what Louis concluded, the chick was a real bitch and pretty much did whatever it is she wanted. She didn’t get in a lot of trouble; or rather she didn’t get caught anyways. Most of the time, she pulled the innocent-sweet girl to avoid that.

He groaned as he went through another list of students; no Amelia.

Suddenly, the door burst open, hitting the wall behind it and Louis jumped as a girl stood in the doorway, glaring down at him.

“The hell are you doin’?” she asked loudly and he blinked.

“Do you do that to every janitor or am I just special?” he asked jokingly and her glare hardened; a look obviously saying ‘don’t fuck-with-me.’

“Listen asshole, I’m the senior representative and Mr. Walsh puts me in charge of a lot of shit.” She hissed and Louis noted he’d never met such a “representative” with such a dirty vocabulary.

“And watching the halls is one of them. And they’re fucking dirty; so quit watching your porn and clean them!”

Louis frowned. “I guess you’ve never heard of saying please, have you?”

The girl folded her arms. “I find scaring the shit out of people much more effective.”

“Very professional, Miss Representative.” Louis replied with a cheeky smile.

The girl returned it. “It’s Eleanor, stupid janitor. Now, go.”

Louis smirked, deciding he liked this girl. He dutifully closed the laptop and picked up his mop and bucket, strolling out the cramped closet and out to the hall.

Eleanor watched him closely, leaning against the doorway as he began to mop.

Louis felt uncomfortable under her stare; like she was looking right through him and it annoyed him. His eyebrow twitched as he mopped the floor, trying to ignore the glare he could feel on his back.

This chick was damn serious about her job, obviously.

He tried to hum a tune or act like she wasn’t there but he could feel her mentally stabbing him. Finally he turned around and smiled.

“Yes?” he asked and she just stared, unimpressed.

“Nothing, just wondering if you always mop floors this bad.” She remarked

Louis clenched the mop in his hand as he tried hard not to let his irritation get the best of him.

“You don’t like me very much, do ya?” he asked and Eleanor smirked.

“No, I don’t.” she replied. “Mostly because instead of doing your job, you’ve been snooping through school records.”

Louis froze as Eleanor walked closer. “Mind explaining that?” she whispered

Louis laughed nervously. “Well you see…” he started scratching his head. Eleanor raised an eyebrow, waiting.

He sighed in defeat. “Listen, it’s not what you think,” he said honestly. “I wanna find this Amelia girl just as much as everyone else does. I thought I might as well help since so many people are working to get her back. I was looking through the records to see if I could find any leads.”

Louis mentally shrugged. That was mostly true, right?

“What are you, a police officer?”

Louis scoffed. “No, nothing like that. Just a janitor; sorry.” He replied. “I really want to help is all.”

Eleanor shrugged, plopping down on a bench and crossing her legs. Louis diverted his eyes from the shot of her underwear he was getting despite his perverted mind that screamed otherwise.

Did the skirts really have to be so short?

“I don’t know why. I mean, teachers are working hard and shit but students are barely trying.” She said.

Louis nodded. That didn’t surprise him based on what he heard. But he played it dumb.

“Why not?”

Eleanor snorted. “Is that a trick question?” she replied. “Everyone pretty much hated her. To think that someone may have killed her isn’t such a crazy idea.”

Louis slung some more water down the hall lazily. “Who do you think would’ve killed her though?”

Eleanor scrunched up her face. “Why does that matter?”

Louis shrugged. “It could help.”

Eleanor furrowed her brow as she thought it over. Finally, she spoke. “Probably Jade.”

Louis gave her a confused expression. “Who?”

Eleanor looked up. “Jade Thirlwall. She’s kind of a bookworm and she’s on the newspaper staff. If anybody would want to kill Amelia, it’d be her.” Then she furrowed her brow, almost as if she was upset about the possibility. “But she’s so sweet, it’s hard to imagine her doing it.”

Louis nodded as he kept the information in mind. “What did Amelia do to her to make it that bad?”

Eleanor frowned as she remembered the memory she had kept locked in the back of her mind.

“Stole her boyfriend; this boy named James. Jade really liked him and they were dating for nearly two years until Amelia just fucked it up for the sake of fucking it up. I guess if anybody truly hated her enough to kill her; it’d be Jade.”

“Hm.” Louis dragged the mop across the floor.

_‘Jade Thirlwall…’_

He paused in the middle of his mopping to look up at Eleanor.

“Hey, how old are you?”

Eleanor snorted. “You’re just full of questions aren’t you, janitor boy?” she laughed. “But if you must know, I’m eighteen. This is my final year.”

“Legal…” Louis muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing!” Louis said with a bright smile and Eleanor found herself giggling and shaking her head at him.

_\--_

“Mr. Dubois, you’re late.” Ms. Cole snapped as Niall burst through the door.

Niall was tempted to curse the woman out in every language possible but he settled on using the peaceful, more subtle way.

Niall forced a sweet smile onto his face. “Oui, Ms. Cole. I’m very sorry.” He said, false French accent strong as he spoke. Ms. Cole slit her eyes at him and pointed at a seat in the back of the class beside a brunette girl.

“Sit.” She sneered and Niall obeyed, rushing to the back.

“Bitch…” he mumbled as he arrived to the back.

He slid in his seat beside the girl, muttering a faint “hi.”

The girl nodded. “Hi.” She whispered, looking towards him shyly and Niall noticed the dark rings under her bloodshot eyes. She was pale and looked fragile; shaking just barely but noticeable.

“I’m Jade.” She said, her voice weak and nearly hoarse. Niall smiled at her.

“Francis.” He replied and she nodded before turning back to Ms. Cole who was speaking about a play another student had written and passing out scripts to the class.

Niall never took his eyes off Jade though; she could’ve just not have gotten enough sleep but Niall knew that kind of look anywhere. He wasn’t sure what happened to this girl; but it was bad for her to look this weak and fragile.

“So here are your scripts. The play was written by Esther and we’ll be performing it in two weeks. We will need a crew and cast so auditions are during lunch hour if you’re interested.”

Niall glanced down at the stack of papers on his desk.

_‘Plague by Esther Campbell’_

Niall scoffed as he flipped through some of the pages of the script; typical teenage love story. The exact ones that made Niall want to puke.

He glanced at Jade who still hadn’t opened hers yet.

“You haven’t opened yours yet, mademoiselle. Is there a problem?” Niall asked. Jade shook her head furiously.

“No, no. I was just thinking…” her voice trailed. Niall observed as her eyes glassed over as if she was in a completely other world, her fingers shaking as she opened the packet, skimming over it blankly.

“You would like to be in it?” Niall questioned. He didn’t care much but blending in was essential, he guessed.

“Maybe.” Jade replied. “I don’t really know. You?”

Niall shrugged. “Maybe,” he mumbled. Niall pulled off the French kid thing pretty well; he didn’t know about being some Prince Charming in a school play.

“Really?” Jade asked, looking to him. “I’ve heard you were a talented actor; the principal raved about you before you came here.”

Niall grimaced. Of course; he forgot the kid had a record. He laughed nervously as he scratched his head.

“Oh, I don’t know about all of that.” He said, pretending to be embarrassed.

Jade nodded. “You should try. You have the looks and the skill.”

“Looks? Man, I’m a freaking leprechaun.” Niall remarked, forgetting his accent. His eyes widened as he realized what he’d done and he glanced nervously at Jade who hadn’t seemed to notice, eyes still glassed over.

 _‘Strange…’_  Niall thought as he turned back to his script.

\--

_“Jade…I know you can hear me, Jade. You killed Amelia. You killed her.”_

_Jade held her head as she screamed; trying to get that evil voice out of her head._

_His voice._

_Liam._

_“Shut up! Shut up!!” She screamed; her hands clapped firmly over her ears. She wouldn’t let him do this again._

_Never again._

_She couldn’t feel his presence as she was whipped around and faced him. Her eyes widened in fear._

_His eyes._

_They were red and glowing._

_He smiled at her and it wasn’t the sweet smile he had given her when they first spoke. It was scarier now; it gave Jade chills to her very core and she felt like screaming and calling for help but she couldn’t speak._

_“You’re going to do what I say.” He said, his voice monotone and the smile disappearing. Jade shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she whispered “no” to herself over and over again._

_“That doesn’t work, Jade.” He said. “Sorry.”_

_He wasn’t._

_“There’s someone else I need you to take care of, however.” He said and Jade couldn’t protest. It was like she was a mute._

_“There are some people after me and my brothers; and they need to die. So what you’re going to do is kill them for me. You see, the last thing they’d suspect is a human ending their lives. And I plan on using that to full advantage.”_

_Jade could do nothing other than comply._

_\--_

Niall was hardly surprised when he was yanked into the janitor’s closet while walking to his dorm after his final class.

Niall protested against a hand clapped tightly over his mouth as the lights flickered on. Louis smirked down at him as he moved his hand.

Niall coughed. “Fuck, man! Don’t do that!” he yelled. “Your hand smells like mop water!”

“Oh well I’m so sorry I didn’t use hand sanitizer before touching your beautiful face.” Louis replied sarcastically before sitting down.

“But I have some leads on the Amelia Lily case if you’re done bitching.” Niall rolled his eyes and pulled up a chair.

“Yeah?”

“Okay, well apparently, this girl named Jade Thirlwall had a grudge against Amelia because of some boyfriend drama—“

“Jade?” Niall questioned and Louis nodded.

“Yeah, that was her name. Why?”

“I have my first period class with her.” Niall replied.

Louis nodded. “You better keep an eye on her then. From what I heard, she really hated Amelia.”

“But it was driven by her hatred; then don’t you think this is just another normal murder rather than demon possession?”

“Don’t forget the first two murders.” Louis reminded him. “By the way, I got some info on that.” He turned the laptop around.

Niall blinked. “Is that my laptop?”

“Yeah, so?” Louis replied.

“You don’t touch—never mind, what are you showing me?” Niall stopped mid-lecture and Louis pointed at a sentence on the screen.

“The murderer’s statements. The girl who pushed her friend in front of a bus, Katie Waissel, apparently a boy told her to do it before she headed to the train station with her friend. She claims not to remember the guy’s name but only knows he had red eyes,” Louis clicked on another link and it showed the face of a young boy. “Bradley Johnson said he had been having dreams of a woman with red eyes persuading him to do it; and when he did, he said he had no control over his body. Both students at this school, Niall. It’s a pattern.”

“So watch Jade; got it.” Niall said.

“Watch me?”

Niall and Louis looked up with wide eyes at the girl standing in the doorway but what caught their eye the most was the shiny blade she held in her hand.

She smirked.

“I don’t even think you’ll be able to, boys.”


	7. Chapter 6

“Damn it, I knew this bitch was crazy!” Niall exclaimed angrily as Jade brought the knife down swiftly in an effort to stab him. Niall thought quickly and grabbed a broom behind to him to block it; the blade coming in stiff contact with the broom.

As they struggled-- Jade pushing down and bringing the blade closer and Niall fighting back--he could see the red demonic glint in her eyes; crazed and not human.

_‘Possession…’_

Jade let out a small cry of frustration as she drew back sharply, leaving a deep slit in the broom and raising the knife once again.

But before she could bring it back down for a second time, Louis grabbed her wrist firmly. Jade let out a gasp of surprise and turned around to glare at him. She let out a primal growl as she whipped her arm around, slinging Louis against a wall with a loud boom as the equipment toppled over and landed on the Eraser.

She turned her attention back to Niall again and ran towards him fiercely, the knife’s blade jutting out towards him and glimmering in the faint light from the hallway. Niall ducked before the knife could stab him in his face and turned on his heel, putting himself behind her.

Jade snarled in anger but before she could turn around and try again, a loud smack echoed out throughout the room.

Niall watched in shock as the knife fell to the ground, Jade’s eyes fading from the demonic  crimson that they were and back to light brown as she plummeted to the ground; hitting it with a thud. Louis stood behind her, holding a mop in hand and chest rising and falling slowly as he attempted to calm himself and blood dripping from underneath his hand which covered his left eye.

“Louis…” Niall gasped as the scarlet liquid trickled from Louis’ injury to the hardwood floor. He went to his mentor, his hand cupping one side of his face in concern as he examined the gash.

This would’ve been a moment that they needed Cher, he had thought.

 “Now did I or did I not tell you it was fucking possession?” Louis rasped jokingly and Niall glared; pinching his cheek hard.

“Idiot…”

\--

It was pitch black when Jade’s eyes fluttered open.

It was like she had never woken up as she looked around; only darkness in her vision.

She felt like she had been asleep for a year; she was exhausted and it felt like every ounce of energy she had left was drained from her body. Strangely enough, this feeling wasn’t new and she felt her heartbeat speed up as she remembered.

She felt that way after she had killed Amelia as well; after she had met  _him_. She hated to say his name; she didn’t feel such a regular name fitted such a monster.

 _‘Have I killed somebody else?’_ she mused internally; horrified at the thought. She blinked away the tears beginning to form in her eyes. She couldn’t sleep after Amelia; she didn’t eat, she didn’t speak. Perrie’s messages left on her phone were still unanswered.

It replayed in her mind over an over again every hour of the day; Amelia gagged and tied to the chair, crying and pleading with her, how she laughed at her and taunted her, the knife, the blood; so much blood.

It was never the full scene however; only bits and pieces and they were usually foggy and not clear but she knew what she did; and it terrified her the impact that thing had.

Jade tried to move but she felt bounds; they were tight against her skin and itched and cut into her every time she wiggled. She had little room to do much of anything. “What the hell?” she gasped and she began to panic; kicking and thrashing around but to no avail. They were tied tight and her energy still hadn’t been restored yet.

“Hello?!” she screamed in the darkness; her voice hoarse she noticed. “Is anyone here? Why am I tied up like this?!”

“So we don’t have another knife incident.” A voice with a strong Irish accent replied to her and the lights flickered on along with the sound of a door shutting closed.

She quickly looked up at her captor and into stone cold blue eyes. “F-Francis?”

Niall rolled his eyes. He had forgotten that he was using an alias. “It’s Niall actually.” He said, flopping down on his dorm room bed but never taking his eyes off of her.

Jade felt a bit scared; he didn’t look the same as he did in class. He was colder now; meaner; and untrusting of her obviously. His eyes weren’t that of a regular teenage boy’s and, despite herself, Jade wondered what could’ve happened to him for this to happen.

“And I’m Louis!” a chipper voice piped in from the door and she turned to look at the source. A man in a janitor’s uniform smiled at her sweetly. She noticed his eye bandaged with some gauze taped over it; a red stain bleeding through it and growing slightly in size but he smiled.

“I-I don’t understand.” She stammered in confusion and Niall sighed.

“Of course you don’t,” he said. “You don’t remember what you did. Unfortunately, we do.”

“Me especially.” Louis spoke, putting a hand over his injured eye but still smiling nonetheless. “I have to say, you’re unnaturally strong for such a petite girl. You could become a third member!” he joked.

“Ignore him,” Niall deadpanned. “Bottom line: you almost hacked our fucking heads off and I’m not too keen on that.”

Jade’s eyes widened. “No…” she gasped as she remembered what she did to Amelia. She knew something had happened when she woke up; she knew it and she had hoped it wasn’t him again.

But she was wrong.

_“That’s what I like to see. You’re terrified, aren’t you? I like that.”_

_“I don’t pity humans. You’re all equally disgusting creatures and not deserving of sympathy. Especially those who think much too highly of themselves.”_

_“HAHAHAHAHA!! She’s dead! She’s dead! Her blood is so pretty and red, Liam. It’s so pretty…”_

She glanced up at the two boys as they stared back; eyes cold, calculating, and waiting.

Yes, she was sure both of these men were very different from what they portray and she felt slightly ashamed that she kept running into people who could fool her so easily.

 “This isn’t the first time,” she croaked. “And I’m sorry, I really am. But if you want to kill me or have me arrested, I won’t blame you. But, just please; I’d never do this on my own. It was  _him_.”

Niall raised an eyebrow at her in question, scooting forward on the bed. “Who is him?” he asked.

She hesitated before she continued speaking.

“…Liam—at least that’s what he says his name is.” Jade said and the boys shared knowing looks.

She went on. “I don’t know what he did but he told me to kill people; and I did hit or at least tried. It’s like he hypnotizes me or something. And, maybe I sound crazy; but that’s the only way I can explain it. He told me to kill two guys after him and his brothers.”

_You see, the last thing they’d suspect is a human ending their lives. And I plan on using that to full advantage._

Jade cringed as she remembered the encounter.

She bit her lip nervously; they wouldn’t believe her. Who would with such a crazy explanation? She’d go to jail; get hauled off to a mental asylum though she silently hoped she did; maybe then he couldn’t reach her there; maybe she’d be safe there.

“Actually…” Niall began, getting up from his mattress, the wood creaking as he did so and stepped towards her. “Your story isn’t so crazy and you’ve been quite helpful. See, you got the right guys. We’ve been trying to kill him for a while now.”

Jade’s eyes got as wide as saucers as Niall spoke. This couldn’t be real; none of it.

“What you have on your hands is a demon, I’m afraid.”

\--

Perrie sighed for the fifth time as she checked her inbox for any reply from Jade. It had been nearly two weeks now; calling Jade, texting her, emailing her—all of it to never be replied to. Sometimes, she tried to talk to her in the halls or during classes but most of the time; Jade never showed up and the few times she did, she seemed lost. Her eyes would be glassed over and she’d be in her own little world, not even hearing Perrie.

_Inbox (0)_

She sighed as she quivered in the cold. It was getting late by now. Students had long since left the school building to head to their dorms before curfew hit and Eleanor was chasing them off as she always did. Perrie trudged up the hill to head to the girls dorms, her hands shoved deep in her coat pockets and her shoulders stiff.

As she approached the tall building, she could see a faint orange light deriving from near the entrance, getting closer and almost brighter each step of the way. She slowed down as she saw the source.

Fire.

There was a boy sitting at the entrance, his legs were crossed Indian-style on the grass and he was looking intently at the fire with the most twisted, disturbed grin Perrie had ever seen on a person. It sent shivers up her spine; and it wasn’t from the weather.

He didn’t look familiar and he wasn’t even in uniform; wearing baggy ripped black jeans and a white wife beater. She didn’t understand how he wasn’t freezing to death even with that small fire he had managed to start.

“Hey,” she called out. He looked up at her and Perrie could’ve sworn his eyes had flashed red but she brushed it off as being from the flames.

“What are you doing? This is the girls’ dorms! And you can burn this place down like that!” she scolded him angrily, despite her initial fear of him. She hated when boys hung around the girls’ dorms because they were all such perverts. She was one of the few who were less frightened to have someone like Eleanor around and more appreciative; at least Eleanor put these guys in their place.

 The boy smirked up at her. She wasn’t sure why but it made her breath hitch in fear. There was an aura stemming from this boy and it screamed ‘DANGER!!’

“And so what if I do?” he retorted, tone mocking her and she noticed the Bradford accent. “Am I supposed to care if I kill those people? I’m still alive right? Who cares as long as _I’m_  not dead? Besides,” he stood up and got a little closer to Perrie, which made her step back in caution. This guy was crazy; he had to be. “I might  _like_  killing all those worthless pieces of shit in there. None of you are worth anything anyway.”

“I-I’ll call the police.” Perrie said and she was trying to be threatening but her voice had no backbone; it was a squeak and it didn’t do anything but push the boy further.

“Oh, I’m scared.” He mocked. “I’ve killed police, too. You shouldn’t have faith in them; it was so easy.”

Perrie backed up again and was about to make a run for it when the boy grabbed her wrist and yanked her forwards, eliciting a scream from her.

“Scream all you want,” he told her. “I’ll slit your fucking throat and burn your corpse.”

Her eyes widened in fear as she felt her chest pound. She was going to die.

_She was going to die._

“Now listen up, I want to have a little fun.” He whispered to her roughly. “And I think you’ll be perfect for the job.”

\--

“This doesn’t add up.”

Niall had a handful of his blonde hair; his brow furrowed in confusion and frustration from what Jade had told him. Louis had left some time ago after receiving a phone call from Matt. He had left quickly; anything from Matt was important. He never called just to say hi.

Jade was untied now, her wrists still red and bruised from the tight ropes, and was sitting in the chair; toying with the edge of her skirt. She refused to get to close to this boy; at this point she never knew what she was going to do; when Liam would take control and she didn’t trust herself.

 She was just as confused and lost at him; demons, Erasers, possession—it was all too much to take in at one time.  When he had first told her about Liam being a demon she couldn’t say she was very surprised. She knew he was anything but human; but then she heard possession and that Niall and Louis killed demons and that other students could be at risk—she was honestly never more terrified in her entire life.

 “There’s no connection.” Niall mused. “I don’t understand why they’re killing students here specifically.”

“Oh, that’s easy. Because its fun.”

Niall and Jade whipped their heads towards the door which they noticed had been opened without either of them hearing; Jade immediately grabbing Niall’s hand out of fear and Niall standing up in defense mode. He had his hand behind his back, a firm grip on his Beretta 92 pistol.

 “P-Perrie?” Jade gasped and her best friend smiled at her but it looked inhumane on Perrie’s face; evil.

“Surprised?”

\--

“Crap…” Louis whispered as he raced down the hallway, sweating slightly in panic from the news he had received. He was thankful the halls were empty with students in their rooms and not packed with teenagers scattering around and he didn’t have anything in his way.

_“Louis, where are you?”_

_“Rosemary Academy for the Gifted and shit…” Louis muttered, twirling his pistol around his finger absentmindedly in the janitor’s closet. “Me and Nialler found out some demons were possessing students.”_

_“Damn it, Louis. You walked right into it!”_

_“What?” Louis questioned and he heard Matt sigh on the other end, frustrated and Louis could nearly picture the veteran pinching the bridge of his nose as he always did when Louis was being an idiot._

_“The principal of that school is a demon, Lou.” He said and Louis nearly gasped as his grip on the phone tightened. “A very powerful demon; one of the Seven Princes of Hell and that school is packed with demons!”_

_Louis shot up from his seat. “Dude…”_

_“The demon is Beelzebub; he’s basically Satan’s right-hand man and masquerading as Louis Walsh. That school is to lure in people who escaped their deals with the Devil and Erasers like you and Niall.”_

_Louis thought, biting his lip in both thought and nervousness. “If that’s true, why haven’t we heard of the murders earlier?”_

_“They’re demons, Louis. They can fuck with your mind; especially the smart ones and Beelzebub is as clever as they come. That place is like debt collector city and you and Niall have to get the hell outta there ASAP!”_

When Louis reached Niall’s dorm, the room was damn near destroyed. The door was knocked off its handles and furniture and objects were scattered about the floor; sheets ripped and bullet holes in the wall.

But what really caught his eye were the shattered pieces of glass from the broken window.

He was too late.

“Shit…”he growled in frustration, punching the wall beside him and leaving a dent.

“What is this?”

Louis’ breath hitched at the sound of the familiar voice. He turned on his heel to face Eleanor who was gawking at the scene in shock and slight terror, her textbooks held tightly against her chest.

“Eleanor…”

“What’s going on here, janitor?” she asked and her voice was quivering—she was scared slightly buts he kept the tough scowl on her face, refusing to let it fully show.

Louis put his hand on her shoulder firmly. “Forget what you saw, okay? It’s for the best. Just walk away and forget.”

“No!” she screamed suddenly, smacking his hand away and her textbooks tumbling to the ground. “I come here looking for Jade and now I see this! What the fuck is going on here?!”

“I don’t have time to explain.” Louis sighed but Eleanor’s determined face didn’t fade. “But Jade’s in trouble and so is my friend and I have to help.”

“…Francis, right?” she asked and Louis was slightly surprised she knew. So she did notice.

“I always see you two talking. I just assumed.” She said, almost reading his mind. “But if Jade’s in trouble, I wanna help.”

“Eleanor—“

“I’m not taking excuses.” She said firmly. Louis stared at her for a minute before groaning in defeat.

“Fine,” he said. “But you do what I say and don’t act on your own.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just go.”

Louis determined he kind of liked this girl.


	8. Chapter 7

Twigs snapped under their feet as Niall and Jade ran through the outskirts of the Rosemary Academy. Jade was struggling to keep up with Niall; practically tripping over her own feet as she allowed the bark and low tree branches whip and tear at her skin. Her vision was blurry with tears that stemmed from her fright and confusion of the situation.

How did this happen to her?

She allowed Niall to lead her around another corner, his hand holding onto hers firmly and protectively and his other holding onto his pistol. She couldn’t hear it or see it; but she knew Perrie—or whatever that thing was inside of her—was still after them, watching them and chasing them down like wild animals and Jade thought briefly if this was what Niall had to deal with all the time.

_“P-Perrie?”_

_“Surprised?” Perrie grinned at Jade threateningly, her eyes swirling with evil intentions and Jade’s grip on Niall’s hand tightened._

_“This isn’t Perrie, Jade.” Niall told her, never taking his eyes off the demon. “Perrie” smirked._

_“Smart boy,” she praised, clapping a little. “Now let’s see if you remember which one I am.”_

_As Perrie’s eyes turned a deep menacing crimson, Jade could see something poking out of the tip of Perrie’s finger, moving around in a sickening way until it pushed out, ripping her skin apart and revealing what looked like an ebony knife-edge claw._

_She charged at Niall animatedly, cackling as she did so—insanely, not like Perrie’s usual girly giggle-- and drew her arm back swiftly to bring it back down across Niall’s face._

_Niall moved quickly, only getting a small scratch on his cheek from the attack and whipped out the pistol, and firing rapidly at the demon._

_Perrie moved out of the way and Jade noted her movements; they were smooth and flowed; no doubt done by an expert; that couldn’t have been Perrie._

_“Jade, run!” Niall shouted, firing another round but Jade couldn’t move; she was frozen. Her eyes were wide with fear and shock; she couldn’t just leave Niall; she couldn’t leave Perrie._

_She tried to speak but nothing came out. Niall looked at her frustrated and shoved the thin girl roughly._

_“Now!” he snapped and Jade gulped, nodding at him. She ran to the door quickly only for it to shut closed in her face. She gasped when she felt the demon’s claw run across her neck._

_“Thought it’d be easy, bitch?” it growled and its voice didn’t sound like Perrie’s anymore; it was deep, high, rough, smooth; it was a million voices all in one and they were all terrible and horrifying to Jade and she shut her eyes tight and screamed._

_“NO! No! Let go of me!!” she cried and a gun shot sounded out. She couldn’t feel the demon’s presence near her anymore and she felt a gust of wind overhead. She looked up slowly at the smoking bullet in the door; mere inches above her head. Jade glanced fearfully at Niall who looked shocked as well._

_“Hehe, such bad aim Mr. Eraser.” The demon snickered and suddenly, Niall’s bed was being lifted and tossed across the room at him. It hit him right in his abdomen, knocking him to the floor, his pistol sliding across the room._

_He coughed as he attempted to move away from the bed, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth and Jade realized it really hurt him._

_She wanted to help; to run and attack the demon but she was afraid. Niall was the Eraser; he killed demons; not her._

_She watched as the demon stepped over to the pistol, lifting it up and examining it as Niall groaned in pain, muttering unintelligibly._

_Perrie smirked, pointing the pistol down at Niall. She laughed._

_“You know, it’s funny, “ she started. “When you’re down there on the ground like that, all bloody and bruised up, you look a lot like your mother. You know, before I hacked her fucking head off.”_

_Jade’s eyes widened in shock at the demon’s words and Niall spit the blood running from his mouth at the demon in pure abhorrence, the stain landing right on Perrie’s cheek._

_“Fuck you.” He sneered, venom lacing his words as he pulled out his second Beretta 92 and pulled the trigger._

_Perrie moved but not fast enough, the bullet going right through her arm and she let out an eardrum-shattering scream and dropping the pistol, Jade covering here ears as a result._

_Niall struggled to his feet, about to fire again until Perrie delivered a hard punch to his jaw, sending him across the room and slamming against the door, knocking it over and to the floor._

_“Niall!” Jade shouted and Perrie stormed to Niall heatedly._

_Jade gulped; she couldn’t let this happen._

_Jade swallowed her fear as she hopped to her feet, grabbing Niall’s fallen pistol and pointing it at Perrie._

_“Get away from him!” she yelled, pulling the trigger._

_Perrie moved out of the way, the bullet hitting a wall in the hallway and whipped her head around to look at Jade, eyes crazed and murderous._

_“You little bitch…” she sneered, snatching up Jade by her hair roughly and making the girl cry out._

_Jade felt afraid with this Perrie; this demonic Perrie that wanted her dead; that was trying to kill her and her classmate; this demon. She closed her eyes to not see her demonic eyes; they reminded her too much of Liam but she could still here the terrifying voices screaming in her ears as Perrie whipped her around like a ragdoll._

_She didn’t notice it was over until she heard another gunshot and felt a pair of strong arms around her shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked into Niall’s._

_Perrie lied on the floor by the door, another bullet in her leg from Niall’s shot and Jade gulped in fear._

_“She’ll be up soon,” Niall said to her. “And when she does, we have to be out of here. We can’t risk going by the door so we’re using the window. But the bitch has it shut tight so we’re breaking it, got it?”_

_Jade didn’t even think as she nodded frantically at Niall’s orders and he let her up just as Perrie was beginning to recover._

_Niall ripped the sheets off his bed and wrapped them around his fist, pulling his arm back and punching hard, shattering the glass. He punched it a few more times to enlarge the opening. He took a quick glance back at Perrie who was on her feet before grabbing Jade._

_“JUMP!!”_

“Niall, you should rest for a while.” Jade told the Eraser despite her inner thoughts. She didn’t want him to feel like she was trying to boss him because he was the expert, not her. But he was still bleeding and he looked tired and worn out; no condition to run around in the middle of forests.

He’s saved her plenty of times today; he deserves a break.

“No…” he coughed, more blood spilling from his lips and he fell to his knees, holding his abdomen and shaking.

“Niall…” Jade slid onto her knees, kneeling beside Niall with her hand on his back. “Please rest. She’s probably injured anyway. Please…” she pleaded with him and Niall slumped against a tree, tired and defeated.

“Not too long,” he rasped. “We’ve got to get moving soon. A-And I have to call Louis…”

Jade nodded. “Okay.” She said, sitting beside him. “Are you always so persistent?”

Niall shrugged lazily, eyes going to the starry sky and Niall could see them blurring in and out of view; the blood loss was getting to him.

“Only when I’m protecting someone.” He replied hoarsely.

“But you don’t even know me.” Jade said, eyes downcast. “You shouldn’t do all this to protect me.”

“You wanna die?” Niall spat and Jade jumped slightly. “Because if that’s the case, I can get up and head off and let that bitch do whatever she wants to you. It doesn’t matter whether I know you or not; I protect people because it’s my job.”

“You have to be doing this kind of job for a reason though. I don’t know anybody willing to put their lives on the line for other people like you.”

Niall paused as he took in the girl’s words. He had never thought about it before, but Niall kind of forgot he was saving people as much as he was killing demons. He forgot that he was doing this for the people who couldn’t; it had always been about killing; never saving.

He turned to look at Jade slowly as the girl returned the gaze, her eyes curious and waiting for a response and Niall wasn’t sure what to say; how to reply to that. He knew there were a number of reasons that he did this job; but they never came to mind again once he started doing it so often.

He hesitated before he answered. “…Demons killed my parents.” And he tried to say it calmly but his voice shook; just barely but it did because, despite what he told himself, it still hurt.

Jade’s eyes grew twice in size at the statement and she began to rattle off apologies at him quickly; sorry she even brought it up.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—“

“It’s alright. I mean, it’s been a long time.” And yet, he still couldn’t bring himself to forget; to be okay with it. Had it been alright; Niall would be in college right now; not hunting demons.

“But those were your parents. It can’t be okay…” Jade gasped.

“That’s why I got into this,” Niall said. “So I could kill every demon out there and maybe, I don’t know, I’ll kill the ones who killed my parents.”

“So it’s for revenge.” Jade said and it was more like she was processing information than it was a question. Niall hated to say it; but she was probably right.

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

\--

“So you and Francis, I’m assuming you’re not really what you say you are, right?” Eleanor asked as Louis sat on top of the Cadillac, loading his pistol and frowning in concentration.

As he finished up, he laughed a little. “No, not really. But, we’re not pedophiles either, promise.”

Eleanor scoffed. “And how would I know that?” she muttered, arms folded over her chest.

She wouldn’t admit it or even show it; but Eleanor was actually really scared. Jade and her weren’t close friends or anything but sometimes she worried over her. Ever since the whole Amelia and James issue; Jade had changed for the worse.

She didn’t smile as much as she used to anymore; she didn’t have the same confidence she had when she first came to Rosemary; she became a loner.

Eleanor couldn’t help but keep track of these things because it was her job; she watched over everything and everybody and it was her job to help the students especially when the murders started.

Eleanor hadn’t been close to Bradley either; but she knew he was a sweet guy; one who’d never do what he did but it still replayed in her mind constantly. The shotgun; his crazed eyes; the laugh he let out as he fired the gun. She couldn’t forget.

And she was there when Katie pushed Rebecca in front of that train; she remembered every aspect of the incident and whenever she thought of it, it replayed in slow motion and Eleanor could memorize every detail. Katie’s blank expression; her robotic movements; Rebecca’s scream; and the blood.

All the blood.

Eleanor shuddered as she tried to shake the thoughts from her mind. She just didn’t want Jade to be next.

“Hey,”

Eleanor looked up at Louis, her face casual as the memories slowly faded from mind. She was always good at covering up.

“What, janitor?” she asked and Louis scowled.

“Man, you’re really mean to be so pretty.” He commented and Eleanor shrugged.

She pretended like she didn’t feel a flutter in her chest when he called her pretty.

“That’s life,” she deadpanned. “What do you want?” She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him; letting him know she still didn’t trust him; that she still didn’t like him and not to forget it.

Louis held up a gun and Eleanor felt her breathing hitch in fear as the stainless steel gleamed in the faint light of the full moon; Louis held it so easily and looked it with such familiarity that it almost scared Eleanor and she briefly wondered what it was Louis did exactly.

But she was too stubborn to let him know that.

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to use a gun, would you?” Louis asked, grinning playfully.

“Yeah, I’m a pro with a Nerf gun.” Eleanor replied dryly and snatched the weapon from his hand as if it wasn’t as scary as she thought it to be; as if she had used a gun a thousand times when in truth it only reminded her of Bradley.

It was heavy and cold in her hands and she examined it.

“What do we need this for?” she asked, eyeing Louis suspiciously.

“Well, I guess I never did tell you what I really was.” Louis said, opening the trunk and pulling out, what Eleanor thought to be, some wooden crosses and vials of a clear liquid.

“To make this short, your school is infested with demons—including your principal who apparently is BFF’s with Satan—and if you and a bunch of other kids don’t get out of here now, you’re most likely going to die. Oh, and Francis’ real name is Niall and we kill demons.” He smiled at her cheekily as he finished up his summary. He slammed the trunk shut and opened the driver’s door, sitting down as Eleanor’s eyes followed.

“And you expect me to believe that?” she asked him, skeptically and curious for a response.

Louis shrugged. “Believe what you want; but I kinda think you do. You’re not calling me crazy and running away.”

Eleanor smirked at him. “You’re a really weird janitor.” She said as she slid in the passenger seat of the Cadillac; inhaling the unfamiliar scent of booze, leather and gunpowder. There were bloodstains on the seats and some parts of the dashboard. There were papers and book all over the floors and scattered across the back seat which also had some knives and bullets lying there and Eleanor wasn’t sure why she trusted him; but she did.

She just had a feeling.

“I’m a really weird everything,” Louis said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. He started the car.

“Oh, and my name’s Louis for future reference. You can stop calling me janitor.” Louis winked at her and Eleanor rolled her eyes in response, turning her head to the window as the gun lied comfortably in her lap. But she didn’t like it there; she didn’t even like it near her.

Louis picked up his cell phone and scrolled through the numbers as Eleanor studied the pistol beside him.

_Cher-Bear_

_Mattie_

_Addy_

_Nialler_

Louis pressed the last name and waited for an answer anxiously; his fingers twitching slightly in anticipation and fear. He had been nervous and though it didn’t show, he had been freaking out every moment Niall wasn’t beside him; nagging him and telling him to start acting like an actual teacher and not a child.

He only hoped Niall was still alive to do that.

_“Hello?”_

The voice wasn’t familiar; it wasn’t Niall’s voice. There was no Mullingar accent; no serious tone; no, this tone was damn near  _amused_.

 “Who the hell is this?” Louis growled and Eleanor glanced at him nervously though he didn’t notice it.

_“Why don’t you know? You called the number.”_

“Yeah, I called Nialler’s number so why the hell don’t I hear his voice!” Louis shouted and he was getting pissed now; this person with Niall’s phone and fucking around with him.

He wasn’t in the mood.

_“Hehe, Nialler. That’s cute. Too bad I can’t say it. But I guess you’re not hearing him right now because he’s gone. I just found this lying around and decided I’d take any messages for him if he came back.”_

“Who is this? Where’s Niall?!”

A sigh.

_“God, you’re loud. I wonder why Niall still even hangs around you. But, if you must know; I’m Harry. You remember, right? From Cocozza’s house. You tried to shoot me several times.”_

Louis’ eyes widened in shock as the encounter came flooding back to his mind; that arrogant little smirk; those light green eyes that just screamed mischief before fading to red; he remembered it.

_“And to answer your question; he’s in some woods near the school with that Thirlwall girl. You should hurry. Zayn’s really eager to find them; and once he starts, he can’t stop.”_

Zayn.

That name alone scared the hell out of Louis and not because Zayn terrified him in any way; Louis had looked every malevolent, wicked devil in the face and shot them dead without a second thought and not even a hint of fear in his eyes since he was thirteen; that wasn’t going to change ever.

But the fact that Niall was in a forest, most likely injured, and the only other person he was with wasn’t even an Eraser or even strong enough to poke Zayn let alone kill him; well, that scared him.

“Damn it…” Louis growled as he snapped the phone close and put his hands on the wheel, he didn’t even glance at Eleanor as he shouted out his order.

“Hold on tight.”

Eleanor couldn’t do anything but comply.

\--

There was a smirk on his face as he heard the click of the phone hanging up.

Harry chuckled dryly as he closed Niall’s phone, shoving it in his pocket and sighing. “What an idiot. He’s only good for firing off bullets, I suppose. “

Harry shrugged it off, mentally deciding that he and Tomlinson would meet again later, before his eyes flickered red; going from the calm emerald orbs they were to fiery murderous ones; bloodthirsty and just as disturbed as his brother’s.

He turned his attention to the wall; the once pure white wall which was now splattered with inky black stains.

Demon blood.

“Back to you, Beelzebub.” He muttered as the claws grew from his fingertips and Beelzebub’s golden eyes widened in terror.

Yes, golden. Hierarchy demons had eyes of a different color; to represent their superiority; to extort their power over lower-class red-eyed demons such as Harry and his siblings. However, Harry never was one to bow down to others.

He supposed Pride was one of the sins that embodied itself in him.

“Satan will have your head for this, Styles.” Beelzebub spat at Harry angrily; but his usually booming voice shook with fear. “You won’t even be considered low-class, you piece of trash!”

Harry snickered and to any other person; it would’ve been normal but no. This little snicker of Harry’s held a deeper meaning and it was a laugh of mad, mad glee.

“I’ve always been trash, Beelzebub.” Harry said, taking a step closer to the lieutenant; the second Prince of Hell and he did it without fear. The crosses that had been nailed and beaten into Beelzebub’s human form bled black and Harry admired his work. He wasn’t a master with telekinesis, and as far as Liam and Zayn knew; Harry was simply a pyro, but he was good enough to do that and avoid hurting himself with the holy sign.

“Why do you think I burned in Hell in the first place?” He sneered.

“Exactly, you burned in Hell.” Beelzebub said and Harry raised an eyebrow.

The lieutenant gave him a knowing smirk; taunting and mocking his ignorance. “I know this is about that boy; Niall is his name, right?”

“Don’t say his name, you bastard!” Harry shouted and the cross twisted in Beelzebub’s skin, causing him to cry out in pain. But the scream faded and it faded into a sickening, maniacal laugh.

“Does that anger you, Harry?” he mocked. “I know what you did for that boy. We all do. You think you can keep him safe forever, huh? Do you?!”

Harry didn’t reply and Beelzebub continued.

“You’re the one that’s going to get him killed.” He sneered, chuckling as Harry bit his lip until it bled. “And even if you did manage to keep him alive a few more years, do you honestly think he’d want you?”

Harry’s eyes darkened. “Shut up.”

“He hunts demons, Harry! He shoots them dead and he does it proudly!”

“Shut up.”

“He kills things—abominations like you. They killed his family; he’ll never want something as ugly and disgusting as you.” Then Beelzebub laughed. “Wow, I wonder what your brothers will think about this.”

“SHUT UP!!” Harry yelled and a cross shot from across the room and right through Beelzebub’s throat, cutting his laugh short.

The Prince’s eyes widened as the cross twisted in his throat and black blood dripped from his throat repulsively. The gold faded from his eyes, going a lifeless gray and Harry glared at him with hatred.

“Don’t you ever talk about him or my brothers again you son of a bitch.”

And as Beelzebub faded into thick, black smoke; Harry pretended that none of those words were true.

Not even a little.


	9. Chapter 8

“Damn it, damn it, damn it…”

Louis was gritting his teeth as the car hit another bump, eliciting a small squeal from the senior representative beside him as she fumbled with the pistol in her lap.

He knew the car was getting even more torn up as he sped through all this woodland; all the holes and bumps he was hitting that rocked the Cadillac violently but none of that mattered. He didn’t give a damn about any of it.

All that was on his mind was Niall.

The lights didn’t help him much in the dark of the night; in the deepest parts of the forests where the collecting ground of a school was barely visible over the long tree branches and growing leaves. Eleanor kept her grip on the gun as she held on to her seatbelt; knuckles white and her eyes—while not wide—showed her worry. She wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into as she watched Louis stare intently on the path in front of him.

She was scared and she thinks, now, if anyone were to ask her that, she’d answer honestly for once; as herself; her inner feelings; not what you’d expect from the fake Eleanor. Her head was filled with so many questions that she couldn’t ask at the moment and all she really wished for was that she had never accepted that damn invitation; that apparently false letter to attend this school.

Then maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this; then maybe this might not be the last night she’d ever see because from what she was hearing; she might damn well die.

She only hoped Louis was as trustworthy as he said.

“Crap!” Eleanor was snapped out of her thoughts as the car came to a screeching halt and she gazed out of the window.

The headlights were bright since the towering trees’ leaves and twisting branches blocked the moon from view.

There were two boys standing in front of the car; arms stretched outwards widely as they stood there, grinning at Louis and Eleanor with identical disturbingly cheerful smiles on their faces. They didn’t waver not once even though the car was mere inches from running them over; in fact, one would say they almost looked amused.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow. She had seen the boys from school. They were in some of her classes; loud boys but very lonesome; one always with the other and not getting too close to anyone other than themselves.

But there was something off about them tonight; entirely off. Their normally childlike, happy faces were…crooked, if that fit. Something lurking beyond what Louis and Eleanor are seeing.

“What’s going on?” Eleanor rasped and Louis glanced at her.

“Friends of yours?”

“I see them…sometimes.” Her eyes travelled upwards again and the twins were still there, smiles not fading at all.

“…Are they safe?” Eleanor asked Louis and she wasn’t sure why that was the first question; but at this point, she felt like anything could just jump out and attack her.

“Maybe; maybe not. I know they gotta be some kinda crazy to be out this far in the middle of the night. But, just in case they’re not…” Louis took Eleanor’s hand and she whipped her head around to gape at him.

He put the gun in her hand and looked up at her; face all serious; completely different from the playful janitor she had met before.

“You fire straight and aim for the head. That’s how you kill them. Don’t hesitate. Don’t pity them. Just because they have human faces doesn’t mean they won’t kill you as soon as your guard is down.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened at the order and she was about to argue; ask him if that was the only thing she could do; is that all he could tell her but the look on his face said all she needed to know.

_‘There’s no alternative.’_

She nodded hesitantly and tightened her grip on the gun.

Louis opened his door and he and Eleanor stepped out of the car; armed and ready to fire as soon as it was called for.

Eleanor held her gun up as straight and with as much confidence as she could; but her wrist was still shaking and her eyes still weren’t as stone cold and threatening as Louis’.

When the twins grinned, she felt as if they knew that.

“Ellie! Ellie!” they suddenly chanted in unison, joining hands as they ran a bit closer to her.

“What are you doing; playing with guns like that.” One said, eyeing the weapons quizzically.

The other pouted. “Why are you pointing it at us?” he looked up at her and Eleanor felt as if she was looking back at a child; sacred and confused. Then, Louis’ words came back to mind.

_Don’t pity them._

“John, Edward. Move back. Now.” She ordered and the twin boys tilted their heads; perfectly in sync.

“Are you going to shoot if we don’t?” Edward asked as John smirked, bouncing over to Louis.

“And what about your friend?” he asked, studying Louis with a playful grin. “Is he gonna shoot, too? He has such a mean face!”

Edward looked over to Eleanor; eyes big and almost pleading with her and she felt her wrist twitch as she attempted to keep the weapon in her hands steady.

“Don’t hurt us, Ellie. We don’t even know what we’ve done.” He said and he reached out to touch her.

“Stay back!” Eleanor snapped and Edward drew his hand back sharply as if he had been burned; face softening in hurt. She heard a low growl emanating from John and she gulped, stepping closer to Louis.

“Hey,” John said, his voice much more threatening now as he stepped in front of Edward. “You made him sad.”

There was no response; only the sound of twigs snapping under John’s feet as he got closer.

 “Not talking? You’re not even gonna apologize?” John tested and Eleanor, once again, didn’t respond.

“Be ready to shoot.” Louis murmured and, despite herself, Eleanor nodded at the order. She felt like a soldier; taking orders from the commander and holding her gun like this.

But it really wasn’t a good feeling.

Suddenly, the twins’ eyes glowed a deep red; twisted grins creeping onto their faces as Eleanor gaped in terror.

“Then we’ll make you!” they screamed in unison and, suddenly, it wasn’t two twin voices. It was a million different ones that all chilled Eleanor to her very core.

The gunshots sounded out.

\--

Niall winced as he pushed himself to his knees, Jade’s hand on his back supporting him. He spit the blood running from his mouth on the ground, fed up with this waiting and lying back.

He couldn’t relax; not when Zayn was here; probably lurking around the woods or toying with him because he was just a sick bastard. And the worse part of it all was that Louis wasn’t there and he had no idea what his condition was.

If Zayn was here, did that mean Liam was too?

How many other demons were here?

Why are they all at this school?

So many questions swarmed in his head as he leaned against the tree for support. Then it came back to him; the dream; Harry.

_“See, we’ll be meeting again very soon and the circumstances will be very different.”_

“Damn, is this what he meant?” he muttered, clenching his fist as Jade watched worriedly.

“Niall…”

“We have to get outta here. Far away from here.” Niall said, looking at Jade and she stared questioningly.

“I don’t—“Jade’s potential question turned into a terrified squeal as something shot off and echoed throughout the forests; causing the lingering birds to fly away rapidly and Niall frowned.

Jade held her head as she whimpered. “W-what is that?” she whispered.

“Hopefully; Louis.” Niall spoke as he walked towards the source of the noise.

“Where are you going?” Jade asked apprehensively and Niall held up the stainless steel pistol, glancing back at her.

“To Louis.” He said as if it was obvious.  “We don’t have a chance out here alone. And if he’s nearby…”

Something snapped and Niall was cut off, his grip on the gun tightened as he hugged his aching torso; eyes scanning the area for any intruders. Jade stepped closer to Niall hesitantly when she heard another rustle; and suddenly, he heart beat was faster and it was like they were running all over again like prey; waiting to be eaten by the predator.

“Up here, dumbass!”

Niall’s head snapped up but before he knew it, he was flying backwards; his back making a sickening popping noise as he made impact with a tree.

Jade screamed when she saw sickly fascinated red eyes staring her down. She felt the tears begin to run as she backed away from the demon; she knew from experience that she couldn’t out run this thing and she was fearful of Niall’s condition, the boy lying still against the tree.

She had expected to see Perrie but, strangely enough, it wasn’t. It was Esther from Drama class gazing at her murderously; amused at her fear.

“Surprised?” the demon asked and Jade refused to call this thing Esther. “Expected your little friend Perrie to be the one killing you? You know it’s not her, right?”

Jade didn’t reply.

The demon seemed satisfied at that; smirking. “He won’t be making it to the party, I’m afraid. But he made sure to send plenty of us to finish the job for him. He had some unfinished business with that Tomlinson guy.”

At the sound of Louis’ name, Jade could hear moving behind her and she glanced back slowly as she saw Niall on his feet again, wobbling slightly and the Beretta at his side as he glared at the demon.

“Where’s Louis?” he growled and the demon smiled at him, entertained.

“Oh, babe, you shouldn’t be worrying about him. Zayn’s probably tearing him to bits as we speak.”

Niall’s baby blue eyes widened and Jade could see it all; ever emotion he was feeling. The anger; sadness; worry; disbelief; it was all there.

“You need to be more worried about what’s going to happen to you.”

At that, Jade could see more glowing eyes; more bodies emerging from the trees and shadows in twos, threes. Fours; all her classmates. Janet from choir; Sophie from creative writing; Misha from band; all of them were looking at her and Niall with unfamiliar, homicidal eyes and Jade felt helpless.

There was no way they’d make it out of here alive…

\--

Harry watched blankly as the thick, inky remains of Beelzebub faded into smoke. He was seated on the floor jadedly, twirling a pen about in the air with his telekinesis idly. He hated this kind of blood; it always took much longer to disappear than regular; damn hierarchies.

_“Satan will have your head for this, Styles.”_

Harry sighed as he remembered Beelzebub’s words; Satan would have more than his head for killing one of his arch-demons.

“Meh,” he muttered, shrugging it off. “Good thing I ain’t going back.”

The shots from the forest rang out loudly from Harry’s spot near the window and the demon glanced back slowly where the birds were flying away fearfully.

“Looks like shit’s goin’ down.” He spoke, no doubt in his mind that his brother had found Louis.

Not that Tomlinson mattered much to him anyway; he was an obstacle as well.

He rose from his spot on the ground to glance out the window and Harry nodded impressively at the perfect view he had of Tomlinson and that Eleanor girl.

Beelzebub had everything how he had wanted it; to monitor the debt on and off campus.

He could see John and Edward hopping about; dodging bullets expertly and occasionally throwing themselves to the two in an attack. But Tomlinson was quick and could usually get a strong kick in on the younger demons. Zayn hadn’t shown up yet but Harry knew he would; his obsession with killing Tomlinson growing stronger over time. Every waking minute, his fingers would twitch with anticipation; the need to dig his claws into the Eraser’s skin and then rip it apart like paper; to watch his crimson blood—blood that Zayn used to possess—spray and splatter across walls and floors; to watch his lifeless body fall to the ground in a defeated motion.

It was sick and twisted; but so was Zayn and the need grew even more every minute Louis was still breathing.

Harry could only hope his brother’s bloodlust only went as far as Tomlinson.

Then he heard the scream.

Harry’s eyes darted across the landscape and he could see something else; something he really didn’t like.

And it had nothing to do with the way Jade was screaming and thrashing as the demons took turns torturing the poor girl; cutting her, punching her, kicking her.

It had nothing to do with their sick disturbing laughs as they watched her suffer.

But it had everything to do with him; Niall.

Harry could feel the urge to tear each one of their throats apart as they knocked the smaller boy to the ground; his shirt stained with blood soaking through and Harry could tell they had cut him; wounded him.

He gritted his teeth in anger.

“Damn it, Niall. How many times am I going to have to do this for you?” he growled and he disappeared.

He didn’t notice the blank eyes watching him the entire time.

\--

“So, you’re an Eraser now, Ellie?” John taunted as he drew his arm back and brought it down; his claws stretched out and ready to pierce Eleanor’s unblemished skin.

Eleanor’s eyes widened and she acted quickly, firing the shot and causing John to jump back, frightened and cautious.

It had gotten relatively easier to pull the trigger now; to fire the shots at the demons because her life was at risk. Louis’ words were true and she hated how familiar the pistol felt in her hands but she couldn’t stop; her only options were to kill.

And she felt like a savage as she did so.

As she pulled the trigger again, she wondered how Louis could be so okay with this.

“Ah!!”

Eleanor gasped as she heard the cry behind her; close and loud in her ears and as she looked to John, she could see he was just as stunned as her.

“Edward!” he cried; worry in his cherry-colored eyes.

Eleanor looked up slowly as she saw Louis lowering his gun; face stone cold and still; absolutely no emotion on it and she felt her heart nearly stop.

He wasn’t the same as before.

Eleanor silently wondered if this was the real Louis; underneath all those layers of flirtatious, happy smiles and laughs was a killer.

It was a bit fearsome to think that.

“Edward, Edward; get up!” John cried as he held his brother who wasn’t responding; only whimpering as bulky ebony rivers ran through the crevices in his fingers from his arm; where he was shot.

And, like this, Louis could almost say they looked human; concerned for each other.

But he knew better.

He was about to finish the job and send both the twins back to hell until he heard a small scream from Eleanor and the sound of something hitting the ground.

He turned around hastily and looked into familiar crazed eyes; red and swirling with bloodlust; it was a girl’s body but he knew exactly who it was. No matter how many mental, homicidal demons were out there. No one had  _his_  eyes; not even Satan himself.

“Sup, Tommo?” the voice chirped and there was dark undertone as the girl smirked, tightening her hold around Eleanor’s neck.

Eleanor whimpered as she grabbed the girl’s arm, trying to ease the grip a little but to no avail.

“About time you showed up, Zayn.” Louis spoke flatly and the girl smiled.

“Aww, you remembered. How sweet.” She cooed with a fake privileged tone. “I’d kiss you if I didn’t want to slit your throat instead.”

Louis’ hand shot up, finger on the trigger and ready to fire and suddenly Eleanor was screaming again as Zayn pulled the girl close and his arm tightened.

“Hey, you don’t wanna kill your little friend here, do ya?” Zayn said as Eleanor gasped for air and Louis froze.

Zayn snickered and Louis wanted nothing more than to end this bastard here but as he glanced at Eleanor who was restraining tears, he knew he couldn’t.

“Drop the gun.” Zayn ordered firmly and Louis glared at him; not releasing the weapon so quickly and obediently.

Then Eleanor let out another heart-wrenching cry as Zayn tightened his grip and she breathed out,

“Louis! Drop the gun! Please!”

Zayn smirked at him, quietly co-signing and Louis snarled.

He hesitated; taking one last look at Eleanor and Zayn before allowing the pistol to fall to the floor and as it did, he felt himself be snatched up by the twins.

John’s grip was firm and it hurt purposefully as he restrained the Eraser’s arm; Edward holding on to the other one but not as strong as his brother’s thanks to the burning bullet in his arm; his pale skin slowly blackening around the bullet hole where the holy water was taking its effect.

“Good boys.” Zayn praised and he tossed Eleanor against a tree roughly and she slid down upon the impact.

“If you even think about getting involved; I’ll rip your heart out of your fucking chest.” was Zayn’s last few words to her as he stepped closer to Louis anxiously.

He grinned at Louis smugly and distressingly. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this. It’s too perfect, you know? We’ve got you all in one place. And you’re all going to die tonight. Your little Nialler’s probably already burning in hell.”

“Fuck you!” Louis spat, pure hatred burning in his light blue eyes as he listened to Zayn’s words of his protégé. 

The demon tilted his head; teasing smile on his face.

“Does that bother you, Tomlinson?” he questioned as the claws jutted out from Perrie’s fingers. Louis didn’t even flinch despite the pounding in his chest.

“Good.”

\--

Niall couldn’t even scream when the swift kick was delivered to his face, knocking him back a few feet. He couldn’t cry out anymore; he couldn’t yell; shout; only groan in pain and the occasional gasp for breath.

His vision was blurred; he couldn’t even see Jade anymore; just wiped and smudged images of everything that he could once see perfectly.

“You’ve got nerve, kid.” Esther—or whatever it was controlling her—said a she stepped closer to him and kneeled down, pulling him up to face her by his blonde locks.

“Either that or your stupid. You were off the map for thirteen years; untraceable. We were just about to give up on finding you and then, here you come, walking right into our world with guns blazing; killing our brothers and sisters. You know, it’s like you told us ‘I’m here! Come kill me! Come and collect!’. Now we can.” She smiled at him but it was hard to see and Niall was confused about what she was saying.

 _‘Thirteen years? Collect?’_ Niall thought but then he felt her claw sink into his torso and he gasped out as she twisted them around.

“I’m gonna enjoy killing you, kid.”

Niall groaned as the pain surged throughout his body and he felt so feeble; so useless this way. Bleeding and battered; broken.

This was the end, he began to think. This was how it was all going to end.

Was this Eraser thing even worth it?

_“Mommy…”_

_“I don’t want to be here no more…”_

_“I’ll die…with mommy and daddy…”_

He didn’t even get to avenge them.

“AH!!!” Niall blinked at the sound; a bit surprised it didn’t come from his own mouth.

“What the fuck?” he heard Esther say and he groaned as she snatched her claws from his skin swiftly.

“Misha? What happ—AH!!!”

Niall blinked; what was going on? He felt something spray on his face. He wasn’t sure what it was but it was much too warm to be water.

With what little strength he had left, he touched the wetness on his face and drew his fingers back to stare at it.

He saw black on his fingers; demon blood.

Soon, it got more and more silent; the cries of the demons dying out with ear-piercing screams and gurgling noises.

He struggled to sit up.

“W-what is this?” he rasped; unable to speak normally.

“Shut up. Go to sleep.”

It was Jade’s voice.

“J-Jade?” Niall asked in disbelief and he tried to stand only to fall back down; too much blood lost.

“I said go to sleep.”

Despite himself, Niall didn’t try to move again.

He didn’t speak; he didn’t ask any more questions.

And his eyelids got heavy as he felt exhaustion taking over.

He thought he saw Jade’s eyes glint red before he fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 9

_He was suspended in the air._

_He felt high; everything hazy and like he was just floating in the middle of nothing. He couldn’t feel the ground; he couldn’t feel surrounding walls; he couldn’t feel a ceiling and everything was dark, shielded by pitch black._

_Niall suspected it could’ve been another dream; the recurring nightmares he’s been having lately or another strange visit from Harry. Another few minutes that felt like days of Harry speaking in riddles; of confusing statements and arrogant smirks that seemed to sing “I-know-something-you-don’t-know”._

_But as his eyes snapped open, urgent and darting around, he couldn’t believe that._

_The pitch black walls seemed to turn into inky liquid, dripping down like paint and revealing brown wooden walls and dark window and raggedy curtains._

_Niall’s eyes stung with tears he wasn’t even aware he had cried and he gasped as he recognized his new surroundings; when he could see the blonde woman arguing with the tall brunette man near the windows, her eyes as wet as Niall’s as she fussed at the scowling man with a hoarse voice._

_“Mom? Dad?” he rasped and it hurt his throat which confused him even more; that he could feel. It was already strange as it was. The dreams never started like this; they only began at the worst parts: when his mother’s severed head would hit the ground and the smell of his father’s corpse grew stronger in the burning room; never before._

_They couldn’t hear him and he didn’t expect them to; his voice small and tiny._

_“You just take Niall and get out of here!” his father bellowed, pointing towards his son but his mother ignored his orders, retorting with a yell of her own._

_“What’s going on here?!? She shouted demandingly. “I am not leaving without an explanation!”_

_And her eyes burned with a determination that faintly reminded Niall of Louis; when Louis was holding a gun and, even with blood flowing out of his body like a river and bruises that’d most likely never fade, he’d fire at whatever hellspawn was threatening their lives._

_It sent chills down his spine._

_“Damn it, will you quit being stubborn for one minute and—“_

_A clinking sound echoed and maybe it was small and could’ve been anything, his father hushed and Niall could see the fear evident on his father’s face when slow footsteps could be heard; slow and torturing; aggravating to hear and know what they may have brought with them._

_He looked to Niall’s mother with a serious expression and grabbed her shoulders tight as he spoke to her,_

_“Hide. Now.”_

_His mother was about to protest but his father’s glare only made it harder to resist; to fight back so she jerked from his grip reluctantly before rushing over to Niall and pulling him down to the floor gently; maneuvering him under the bed._

_And Niall was having déjà vu as his mother petted his no longer coffee-brown hair and shoved his broader shoulders to full hide him under the bed._

_She smiled at him sweetly despite the fear manifesting in her eyes and ran her fingers through his hair again and Niall was close to tears having her do these familiar contacts with him; he missed it. He missed her._

_“Niall, honey. I need you to do something for mommy, okay?” she asked and Niall felt the pain in his chest as he remembered what would happen next; as he predicted the next move._

_“Stay under this bed and don’t come out until me or daddy tells you to, okay? Don’t make a sound; don’t scream; don’t move. Okay?”_

_Niall nodded as he did all those years ago mindlessly and he watched with a pain in his chest as his mother rushed away from the bed, her feet descending further and further away and he reached out a bit to bring her back. Because he knew what happened next._

_That’s when he heard the loud impact of the door hitting the wall._

Niall woke up for the second time with a gasp.

And there was a sharp pain in his abdomen as he heaved; like a knife going through his torso with each intake of breath.

The floor was icy cold against his back; his shirt discarded and, when he looked down, the only thing around him being some crimson-stained gauze and the blot only growing bigger.

He felt nauseous when he looked up, wincing at the glow emitting from the lone light-bulb in the dimly-lit room.

He could hear hushed voices nearby, whispering to each other harshly; insults spewing, worried questions, angry instructions.

“And what are we supposed to say when he wakes up, huh?!” the callous whisper Niall could recognize as Louis’ without a doubt and he glanced across the room at the huddled bodies in the corner of the room. It was faint but he could see well enough.

“What do we do now? We have to go back out there to get outta here! We could get killed!”

“Anything you do at this point can almost get you killed.” The voice was stern; and it was almost a sneer at Louis and what confused Niall the most was that it was Jade’s voice.

Sick of lying in the dark and clueless to the situation playing out across from him, Niall pushed himself into a sitting position on the floor; wincing and groaning as the pain from his wound surged throughout his entire body.

There was a pause; a sudden silence in the air and Niall could feel their eyes on him; curious; alarmed.

“L-Louis?” he asked, ignoring the wide-eyed looks he was receiving and he couldn’t see the frown on Jade’s face.

“Where are we? What are you talking about?”

It was hard to see his mentor in the dim area and he could only see the small movements Louis would make every couple of seconds and he squinted to get a better look.

“Hey, Nialler.” Louis said, tone soft and sweet as he walked towards Niall with a small smile on his face, laying his hand on his shoulder gently.

“We gotta get out of here, okay?”

Niall only stared at him for a while, not sure of what to say and still unaware of what was going on before glancing over at Jade where he saw another girl seated beside her, red uniform skirt ripped at the seams and sleeves rolled up to her elbows as she showed off scars on tan skin and fresh bruises.

“E-Eleanor?” he rasped and the girl smiled weakly at him, flashing a peace sign at him in greeting.

He looked to Louis nervously. “I-I don’t understand what’s going on, Louis. Why’s Eleanor here? Why is Jade—“

“Jade’s not here now, babe. And your questions can wait.”

Niall could see Jade—or what looked like Jade—stand up in the faint light and he felt chills as he feel something different about her as she walked closer to him. Her aura was darker; stronger and she didn’t seem human anymore.

Then, she bent down to his level, and her eyes flickered red almost tauntingly.

Niall’s expression automatically hardened, earning him an amused grin from the demon.

“You know who this is, right?” it asked and Niall replied despite himself.

“Harry, what are you doing here?” he questioned with a scowl and Harry laughed loudly; arrogantly in Jade’s voice and Niall felt upset for recognizing him; for remembering that familiar atmosphere that Harry radiated and distinguishing those cocky attributes.

“I just saved your ass.” He replied and Niall thought the curse word was weird when coming from Jade’s mouth. “Again.”

Niall couldn’t even reply to the last part as Harry stood again.

“You’re in the school basement,” he said to Niall. “And that’s the exact place where Little Miss Thirlwall murdered Amelia Lily.”

Niall froze in place, azure eyes widening greatly and Niall didn’t like the little smirk Harry gave to his reaction but he couldn’t curse him; couldn’t yell at him or speak as the sentence repeated in his mind over and over again.

_“Little Miss Thirlwall murdered Amelia Lily.”_

“Oops,” Harry said teasingly, mocking a surprised tone. “Did she forget to tell you that?” he shrugged.

“Oh well. Back on subject; at the moment, you’re all being hunted. There’s a lot more collectors lurking around the school other than Esther’s group and they’ve probably already been alerted about their deaths.”

Niall could see the deep grimace forming on Louis’ face as Harry spoke and he could tell his mentor was getting frustrated; upset and it was most likely because they were getting help from Harry of all people—a demon. A demon they’ve had some issues with; questions about; encounters.

But Niall supposed this was the only help they were getting.

“Why should we trust you?” Eleanor spoke up and Louis and Niall shot her shocked looks. This was a demon she was talking to.

Harry smiled at her and it looked twisted and disturbing on Jade’s face and Niall just hoped he left her body soon.

“Because if you don’t; you’re screwed.”

“How do we know you won’t screw us over yourself?” she asked, eyes unwavering as she glared Harry down.

The demon thought about it for a moment; considering her question before shrugging.

“Guess you’ll just have to find out.”

“What about Beelzebub?” Louis added and the two locked glares.

The air grew silent again; awkward and the boys speaking venomous words with their eyes. Icy blue against fiery red; mutual hatred radiating from the both of them.

“…Beelzebub’s been taken care of.” Harry spoke finally as his red eyes faded back to Jade’s almond colored ones.

Suddenly, her eyes closed and Jade’s body fell forwards, Louis rushing to catch her as Harry stood behind her, watching it play out with stony eyes.

“Now go.” He growled and Louis gave him one last before turning to Eleanor and motioning for her to follow him, the pair rushing out the door with Jade lying limp in Louis’ arms.

As Niall was about to follow them out, struggling to catch his balance and holding his abdomen, Harry grabbed his wrist.

Niall whipped his head around to face him and the boys held each other’s gazes for a while, Niall’s confused and Harry’s stern, in a way that astonished the young Eraser; only ever seeing the cocky bastard Harry had always showed.

“I have to talk to you later.” He said and Niall didn’t reply but he silently listened.

“Be careful.” Harry muttered though Niall didn’t hear him as he sped away from the basement as fast as he could go, mind racing with fears he refused to show and hoping no demon happened to see him.

_“This keeps happening…”_

_\--_

“Hm, somebody’s been hiding some secrets.”

Liam was okay with admitting he was actually surprised at what Harry was capable of. Despite what he knew his brother thought, Liam knew Harry was a simple pyro; that his skills hadn’t advanced past fire. Harry was lazy; but he was smart.

But seeing those crosses planted firmly in the walls that, no doubt, once pinned Beelzebub due to the ebony liquid still staining it; he never knew he had gotten this far; to kill a hierarchy. He’d almost say he was impressed had the attack not been directed at one of the Seven Princes of Hell.

As a demon and, more importantly, a soul collector for Satan, he should’ve reported this immediately. He should’ve told that Harry used holy bonds against the lieutenant and killed him like a dog all for the sake of human scum; Eraser scum.

But, if he considered it, Harry was always his brother first—not an associate; not a partner in collecting.

So that came first and this issue could wait.

“However…” Liam muttered to himself as he snatched one of the black blood-stained wooden crosses from the wall with his mind and examined it with concentrated light brown eyes. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Um…excuse me, Liam.”

Liam glanced behind him, eyes stone cold and the twins gulped fearfully in sync under the boy’s bitter gaze, standing stiff and at attention.

Being as young and arrogant as they were, John and Edward often ignored rank and status and rarely feared a fellow demon, considering them just as low and disgusting as them—but Liam Payne was an exception to that.

There was a simple rule in Hell and every demon with a brain followed it: don’t fuck with Liam Payne.

He didn’t have a specific rank or special authority over anyone else—he wasn’t special. He was low-class trash just like John and Edward but, if you were smart, you didn’t treat him like it unless you were asking for him to end you afterlife as well. He kept a dangerous aura; a cautious air around him that made you to afraid to get to close—to even so much as whisper his name in a way that was anything less than respectful.

The twins felt the same.

“The Erasers…and the debt,” John began, eyes downcast; too afraid to meet Liam’s.

“They got away.” Edward finished, mimicking his brother’s motions.

“B-But it wasn’t our fault--!” John felt the fear surge throughout him as he struggled to lower his tone, eyes wide as he nearly yelled but Liam cut him off.

“I know.” He spoke, instantly hushing the nervous twins. He looked towards them again, eyes still not yet flashing and still just as cold and bloodcurdling as they would’ve been red; still radiating fearful tones.

“Where’s Zayn?” he asked, the cross he had previously had lingering in the air falling to the floor and startling the twins.

“Right here, asshole.”

Liam was indifferent to his brother’s uncouth response and simply observed him for any scratches or injury.

There was also another rule about Liam; unless you were Zayn or Harry, you couldn’t talk to him like that. Unless you were his brothers and he truly cared about him, you referred to him as Liam, not “asshole” or “bastard” or whatever other foul nickname Zayn could come up with; not “Li” or “Bro” like Harry. You didn’t touch him or hug him or tease him; only them.

Zayn had returned to his original body, scowling as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his baggy black pants, muttering curses and profanities with that notorious foul mouth of his. He shooed the twins away with a low, “fuck off” and they obeyed hastily, scurrying off as far as they could thankfully.

“Well, you don’t look happy.” Liam stated, cheekily and Zayn hated it when he did that, able to sound so smug and then show no emotion on his face. It pissed him off and Liam earned a red-eyed glare from his brother.

“Shut the fuck up! That bastard got away!” Zayn snapped; the images of Tomlinson and Eleanor disappearing into thin air still replaying in his mind and angering him further.

“What bastard?” Liam questioned. “You call everyone bastards.”

“Like you…” Zayn muttered, scowling at his feet as he stepped past Liam and into the former office of Beelzebub.

“Fuckin’ Tomlinson and some bitch he had with him…” he answered before glancing around the room, his eyes growing larger at the sight.

The chairs and furniture were knocked over, some even broken, and splattered with black blood, some of it still smoking as it faded into the atmosphere. Paintings crooked and dirtied walls with crosses planted in them; yeah, this was a demon’s death.

“What happened in here?” Zayn asked and Liam couldn’t help but notice the slight sound of amusement in Zayn’s tone. He didn’t mind; killers will be killers he supposed.

Liam sighed before answering, “Beelzebub’s death.”

Zayn raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Say what?”

Liam nodded. “Yeah, another demon killed him…I sensed Esther and her group die a while ago…”

Zayn gazed at the inky black stains on the wall, mouth parted slightly in awe and his fingertips like the ends of paintbrushes, wet from the hierarchy blood and he almost felt like he did it; as if he killed him but he knew it wasn’t true.

Beelzebub was a lieutenant; Satan’s right hand; a higher class of demon; one of the demons who looked down at him, Liam, and Harry and spewed venom at their very presence; spit in their faces and reminded them that they were trash and they always have been; reminded them that they were lower than humans.

And now he was dead.

Zayn didn’t even try to hold back the smirk etching onto his face.

“Well, what can I say? Asshole had it coming; can’t say it’s a tragic loss or some shit. I kinda wish I could’ve done it first.” He snickered; rubbing the blood off on his pants like it was worthless; like how Beelzebub would’ve done his.

Liam didn’t reply as he let his brother continue to admire the work; the spilt and splattered remains of the Fifth Prince of Hell; of the very embodiment of Gluttony.

_“You’d never guess who did it…”_

_\--_

Eleanor let a small smile form on her face as she watched the pair in the back. It hurt a bit, what with the bruise on her cheek and the pain in her jaw but she allowed it. Despite the circumstances; despite the events that Eleanor is sure would plague her dreams and nightmares for long nights to come, she managed to find a bit of solace watching the pair sleep peacefully in their sleep; like everything was normal; like they weren’t hiding from demons and they were just normal, clueless people.

Not a demon hunter; not a girl with a deal with the devil.

Niall snored softly in his sleep, his arm wrapped protectively around Jade’s shoulders as the girl lied against his chest, her small arm across his torso. Neither one stirred in their sleep as the car hit another bump; just slept soundly.

They were miles away from the school and yet Eleanor could still feel her heart pounding from that fight; seeing Louis with that knife-edge claw to his face; so close to killing him and then everything disappearing. Everything happened so fast and her mind was still swarming with questions and her mind wasn’t straight; she just wasn’t sure what there was to say.

She wasn’t sure where they were going but she still felt like glancing over her shoulder every now and again.

Louis’ eyes were focused on the road, his face pulled into a deep thoughtful scowl as he navigated the wheel. Eleanor frowned as she watched him. She didn’t understand much; but she knew that whoever that boy was back there at the academy, he wasn’t human and he and Louis damn sure weren’t on good terms. She forced a smile as she nudged Louis with her arm; hoping to lighten the mood.

“So where we headed?” she asked him. The scowl didn’t fade, not even a little, and he replied gruffly.

“A friend’s place; they can patch Niall’s wounds up…watch over you and Jade.”

“And where will you be?”

“…Hunting.” He muttered and Eleanor raised an eyebrow.

“You’re going to leave me there?” it came out sounding more attitudinal and angry that she had intended but it was too late to take it back so she awaited her answer with a snarl.

“It’s for the best.” Louis said and his tone was firm; almost like Eleanor’s father’s when he didn’t approve of something he did or when he made a final decision.

“If you keep travelling with us, you could get seriously hurt. I won’t have your blood on my hands.” He continued, turning a corner and Eleanor’s face heated up at his toneless reply.

“From what it seems like, just talking to you is a fucking danger.” She snapped and glared at him. She knew he couldn’t see it but he damn sure could feel it.

“I can take care of myself; you saw me do it! I hope you don’t really expect me to just sit here in the dark and wait and worry over you two!”

That’s when the car came to a halt.

Eleanor’s hand hit the window out of reflex as she was nearly jerked out of her seat from the sudden move and, as she turned her head, she could see the aggravation spreading on Louis’ face; the anger and exhaustion all showing on his face and burning in tired blue eyes.

“Niall almost died today!” he shouted, uncaring of the sleeping pair in the back and only thinking of today’s events; the ones that would be marked in his mind forever.

“He and Jade almost got killed today and I wasn’t there to get to them in time! A demon—a fucking  _demon_  had to do my job because I wasn’t able to!”

Eleanor’s eyes widened as she could see Louis blink away tears welling up in his cerulean eyes and she suddenly wished she hadn’t even opened her mouth as realization set in.

“They could be dead right now if…he hadn’t come in my place. I’m not letting that ever happen again, got it?”

It was quiet between the two as they exchanged looks; Louis’ pleading and hurt; Eleanor shocked and understanding. Finally she spoke.

“Okay…” she murmured to the Eraser; the pleading, hurt, and honestly terrified demon hunter.

He was so much more different that the flirtatious, playful janitor she had encountered before.

With her thumb, she wiped away the small tear in the corner of his eyes that threatened to fall.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered.

He forced a smile.

As the car started up again, rolling down the highway, neither one of them was aware of wide eyes and quivering lip behind them.


	11. Chapter 10

Liam didn’t like to think about it.

As the thought was much more disturbing than it should have been to someone like him, seeing as though he’s done worse—much worse—so it was a rather odd sensation.

But it was still an unsettling truth to think about nonetheless:

Harry had carried out a massacre.

A true, honest-to-God massacre that would’ve put Columbine to shame and it was very clear as Liam had to maneuver around detached limbs and bloody organs that obviously been ripped from throats and abdomens mercilessly by demon claws and he avoided the thick, ebony clouds of black remain that floated in the air and emitted from the mouths of the once-possessed human carcasses.

It had gotten to the point that he couldn’t even see the forest floor anymore; it wasn’t green, slightly dried out grass and soil; it was corpses and black liquid staining the ground and dissolving into the atmosphere like radiation.

And through all of this, Liam could only think this:

Harry did this.

His brother did this.

He honestly wasn’t sure whether to be upset or impressed with the shocks his brother managed to keep throwing at him but he decided indifference was a good enough emotion for now.

And, of course, Zayn made it perfectly clear how he felt, however, giggling in sick glee—a killer’s laugh Liam would normally describe it as because only an insane person could do it—as he picked up another separated body part and tossed it into the air like a toy.

He admired the no longer visible forest floor and the disgusting work that had been done here.

He relished in it—because with his restrictions, he’d never be able to do something like this; only have hopeful bloody dreams.

He didn’t care that those human remains strewn about once held the dark sprits of his “brothers and sisters” because all they ever did was spit on him and remind him of what he was; what he’d always been.

He didn’t care that his lieutenant was gone; he was no better.

He didn’t even care about who even conducted this. He’d shake their hand if he could.

“What a masterpiece, huh?” Zayn snickered at the skeptical look Liam shot him.

“It doesn’t surprise me that you enjoy this,” Liam started, stepping over a severed head as they traveled further into the forest.

Liam had wanted to investigate further after John and Edward’s claims—the two boys had long disappeared since then, most likely causing mischief elsewhere.

As long as they didn’t know much more other than that human girl—Jade—carried this out, he didn’t care what they did in their free time.

“But you do know this could most likely be a threat towards us. If you haven’t noticed, they killed people that  _we_  sent. Did you ever think that we could be the next possible target on their list, idiot?” he continued, cocking an eyebrow at Zayn who replied in his rude way as always, casually giving Liam the finger and rolling his eyes at his words.

“Maybe so; but you can’t say this doesn’t please you even a little bit, Li.” He said; smirking deviously as Liam glared at the nickname that only Harry had ever called him.

“You never cared about these pricks. You can’t say you’re not even a little happy that they’re dead.”

Liam chose to remain quiet at Zayn’s words, folding his arms as he leaned against a weeping willow. His eyes fell on Esther’s corpse nearby; her once sun-kissed skin now colored a sickeningly, dead gray and her face was screwed up into an eerie shocked expression with her eyes wide and mouth in an ‘o’ formation of surprise.

Liam couldn’t help but think that maybe Esther and her group did get what they deserved for the years of torture.

Esther, in a sense, was the closest you could get to a female counterpart of Zayn. The murderous looks in their eyes were nearly identical; their tones and ways of speaking—equally filthy and oozing pure disrespect and hatred towards whoever it was directed.

The only difference between Esther and Zayn was their egos; Esther believed she was above the average demon; Zayn knew he wasn’t better than anyone else—he knew they all went to Hell for a reason and no killer; or rapist; or whore could be anymore high-class than the next.

That’s why he relished in Beelzebub’s murder.

“That’s no where near the point, Zayn. The point is, while you’re applauding this mess and having not a care in the world, this bastard could be after us next.”

Zayn frowned up at Liam’s statement before scoffing; kicking a torn apart heart—yes an actual heart—across the ground.

“And then I’ll fucking kill them.”

Liam had to refrain from asking Zayn if he would really kill his own little brother; biting his lip.

It’s not like he didn’t trust Zayn—his afterlife still remained intact because of this boy and he was very much grateful towards him—but Zayn was a loose cannon; whether he’d brush off Harry’s killings and pat him on the back or he’d lose it and tear their brother to shreds was still up in the air.

Zayn was about to speak again, no doubt another disturbing statement knowing him, until there was a loud engine roaring in the background; the sound of something teetering down and rocking into the deeper parts of the woods and it was almost like an alarm to them rather than a simple car.

 Both demons got on guard at the sound, standing at attention and staring red-eyed at the path that led students in; their claws slowly broke through their skin in preparation, Zayn growling as he waited.

“Who’s there?!” Zayn shouted; all five fingers on his calloused right hand, alight with red fire and ready to spew into the faces of whoever may have potentially threatened them.

“Calm down, will ya? I’m not a threat, you hothead.”

Zayn’s eyes gradually faded back to their cool brown as he saw that the intruder was only Harry; the younger demon stepping out of their shared truck with a smug grin on his face.

“This is why we’re the only ones who can handle you as a partner.” he taunted, earning a heated glare from his older brother.

“Shut it, you little prick!” he sneered, hands glowing dangerously but not enough to faze Harry who just smiled at the reaction in that way that he knew would piss off Zayn even more if that was a possibility.

“Harry, you keep pushing him and I won’t be able to stop him when he attacks.” Liam deadpanned from his spot at the willow tree and Harry shrugged, playful smile on his face.

“It’s just a little fun, Li. I won’t push him anymore, okay, Mommy dearest?” Harry asked, voice dripping sarcasm and, as usual, Liam didn’t respond with anymore than a blank expression.

As Zayn calmed himself, he took a glance to the rusting truck that Harry leaned against.

“When’d you learn to drive?” he grumbled, looking to Harry suspiciously who shrugged.

“When I was still alive; I had a few driving lessons.” Harry replied, casually as he smacked the hood of the truck a bit.

“The question is more; where have you been all this time? Surely you can see what’s happened in your absence.” Liam said, pushing his body from the tree as he turned to face Harry who stared at the carnage blankly; a look that could’ve rivaled Liam’s.

His smoky green eyes roamed over the dead bodies emotionlessly; examining every wound discreetly and thoroughly and finally Harry shrugged.

“Yeah, I see it,” he said. “I went walking for a bit; didn’t know.” He replied and it was almost believable had Liam not known any better. He couldn’t say he expected a response any different; he surely wasn’t going to just say “Oh, yeah! I killed all of them!”

“So I suppose you don’t know about Beelzebub’s death as well?”

“Oooh,” Harry’s eyes widened a bit mockingly as he climbed into the trunk of the car.

“Well, I do now.” He laughed. “But maybe we could let it wait until later. I’m sure if there was just a mass killing; we should scram, don’t you think?”

His eyes locked with Liam’s and, for a split second, they weren’t brothers anymore—they were enemies and Harry’s eyes were unnaturally daring and challenging—provoking Liam to deny his request and confront him about what they both knew he did. And Liam’s were stone cold as they always were but with more edge; the only emotion obvious in his eyes was anger—and they told Harry whatever was going on he wasn’t through with yet.

The tension went unregistered by Zayn, however, who hopped in his regular station of the truck in the passenger’s seat.

“Hey, Liam! Come on, let’s go!” he shouted impatiently, hitting the horn for good measure and Liam ended the staring match for the time being.

 _‘…I know what you did.’_ He mouthed to Harry before following Zayn’s wishes and taking the driver’s seat.

Harry’s face didn’t show any emotion as the truck began to move and they headed out of the forest; snapping twigs and roots and crushing the corpses that happened to lie underneath. Even though inside, there were butterflies no doubt losing their minds in every inch of his body and it didn’t feel good; not like the ones that he had around Niall.

No, these were dangerous black butterflies obviously telling him that whatever was coming next wasn’t good, and Liam may or may not be on his side; and he preferred having Liam with him and not against.

Because Liam is a wary ally trust-wise; but one hell of an enemy.

There was not another word spoken and the only noise between the boys was the occasional outburst from Zayn. But nothing more than that.

Harry let out a sigh before glancing up at the stars dotting the dark sky pensively and sluggishly shutting his eyes, he silently wondered if Niall had made it out alive.

\--

The house they pulled up to was rather small in Eleanor’s opinion.

 In comparison to the Rosemary dorms, it could almost be considered a hut with its size. It looked broken down and almost abandoned; pieces and fragments of wood hanging off of it and the windows so dirty, Eleanor couldn’t look in and see a thing. It was painted black—pure pitch black and that gave it an almost creepy look as the dark color helped it to camouflage in the trees that hid it.

She gaped at it as Louis stepped out and moved to the back to wake up Niall and Jade, slamming his door as he did so.

“They live here?” she asked, skeptically and it wasn’t because the house looked distasteful—though it was-- but it hardly looked like anyone could even survive in such a tattered place let alone live in it contently.

“Yeah, rather unbelievable, huh?” he questioned with a knowing smirk on his face.

“It’s much bigger inside, though. You’ll see.” He replied as he threw Niall’s limp, bruised arm over his shoulder, the boy groaning as he stumbled from the car, the red blot on his shirt a bit bigger since they had fled from the school.

Louis felt nauseous as he diverted his eyes from the wound.

He was losing too much blood.

“Come on Niall. Let’s get you fixed, huh?” He muttered, and he knew probably didn’t even know where he was at the moment let alone able to answer questions but it made Louis feel a little better when he talked to him as if he wasn’t…

Louis shook his head.

No, he wasn’t dead anyway; even if it didn’t seem like it.

As he helped the boy to the familiar residence, Niall grumbled an unintelligible reply as he attempted to keep up.

Eleanor stepped from the car slowly, shutting the door and exchanging uneasy looks with Jade.

Jade forced an assuring smile up at her, shrugging a bit. “Maybe Louis is right. He seems to know what he’s doing, right? More so than we do I guess.”

And as Jade spoke, voice just as perky and chipper as it had ever been, Eleanor couldn’t help but notice that her eyes looked weak, slightly red and light grey rings underneath them, and her skin was paler. She found it a bit hard to look at her; little scratches and bruises decorating Jade’s skin and it reminded Eleanor that Jade had encountered these demons more than she had; probably more than anyone in the school.

The others had been possessed and either killed or arrested; their debt collected and their job done while Jade had been under control of a demon not once but twice and lived through them both even it was just barely.

She killed one person under control of Liam.

And over a hundred under control of Harry.

And to make things worse, both Jade and Eleanor were still being hunted.

They took gentle steps on the flimsy wood, the stairs creaking eerily like a scene from a haunted house movie and while it slightly made the girls uneasy, Louis seemed used to it.

He hit the door hard with his fist, banging on it loudly until he got a muffled shout from the other side.

“Oi, who the fuck is hitting the door like that, huh?!”

The voice was rough and feminine; almost groggy but it was at the peak of dawn that they had finally arrived here and managed to maneuver around trees and roots at night to get this point so it couldn’t really be much of a surprise.

“Watch your mouth Cher-Bear; we have ladies here unlike you.” Louis responded teasingly through the door; a smug grin on his face.

The rusted knob began to shake rapidly as the dark, mahogany door swung open, the sound of the door hitting a wall behind it slightly startling the group.

And in the doorway stood a young girl—no older than Jade or Eleanor—holding a stainless steel pistol and pointing it right in the middle of Louis’ head and if she were to pull the trigger, she would’ve had a perfect kill shot.

She glared at Louis, her top lip curled in disgust as the two locked gazes; Louis’ haughty and hers suspicious.

“…The hell are you doing here?” she growled finally, lowering the gun and Louis motioned at Niall and the girls.

“I need you to patch up Niall for me and, I don’t know, maybe give Treyc some new roommates.” He answered with a pleading smile.

Cher’s eyes widened.

“You want us to take in some more?!” she exclaimed, eliciting a nervous laugh from Louis. “What do we look like, some sort of shelter to you?! And where do you keep finding all these girls anyway? You pig!”

“Thank you, Cher-Bear; love you, too.” He said quickly, shoving Niall into her arms—gently mind you-- and rushing past her and into the house, shuffling beside Matt who was looking up possible cases with Aiden on his laptop.

Cher glared at his retreating back as she screamed.

“Louis Tomlinson; you bastard, you—“

Eleanor cleared her throat before Cher’s insults could get any worse, smiling kindly when the girl turned to face her.

Cher gave both her and Jade a once over before speaking,

“You’re sleeping on the floor and if I here complaints; you both get bullets in your faces.”

Eleanor gave Cher a thumbs-up in understanding as she walked inside, Jade trailing meekly behind her and keeping her eyes downcast and off of Cher at all costs.

Cher’s eyes traveled to the still bleeding wound on Niall’s side before mumbling a small curse under her breath.

“Damn it, Niall…”

She lugged him to his usual bedroom, shouting for Treyc, who had been there long enough to know, to grab the first-aid kit.

\--

_“Come on, Nialler, don’t lose on us now.”_

Cher’s voice was like a deafening echo in Niall’s mind and he felt like he could get lost in it; fall and never get back up. He wished he could open his eyes and shot her a little smart comment that he knew would earn himself an ass-kicking of a lifetime.

But anything was better than this.

Where he couldn’t move; he couldn’t see anything other than darkness and he could hear everything going on—from the sound of everyone’s footsteps mixing in like a drum line to Cher’s voice, begging and pleading for him to still be alive.

He wasn’t even sure if he was anymore.

As Niall slept, he couldn’t feel the pricking needle of Cher’s that went through his skin and the string dragging through his tissue as Cher stitched up his wound.

He had passed out in the car in the middle of the trip, exhausted from running as Harry redirected the demons and losing blood gradually until it made him hazy and he could barely stand with out Louis or Eleanor to hold him up.

Though he had been awake to hear Louis’ confession.

 But no matter how hard he had struggled, he still passed out. And it was scary.

Because Niall thought, with the blood dripping out of him and onto the rugs and mats in the car, staining them permanently, that if he closed his eyes; they’d never open again.

And he would’ve had to die, hearing…that.

_“Niall almost died today!”_

_“He and Jade almost got killed today and I wasn’t there to get to them in time! A demon—a fucking demon had to do my job because I wasn’t able to!”_

_“They could be dead right now if…he hadn’t come in my place. I’m not letting that ever happen again, got it?”_

_“Well it would be true, wouldn’t it?”_

_And suddenly, it wasn’t dark anymore but so white, it was almost blinding to Niall but it calmed as time went by and became distinguishable as once again, his mind, and a place where a certain demon seemed to love to fuck around with._

_At the sound of the recognizable conceited, taunting tone and Cheshire accent, Niall whipped his head around to glare into the—for once, not smirking, but glowering—face of Harry; said “fucking demon.”_

_“What the hell do you want?” Niall growled, wishing he had a knife or something so he didn’t feel completely defenseless even in his own mind._

_“Oooh, such fire for someone half-fucking-dead.” Harry sneered at the Eraser and he took pleasure in the shock that grew on Niall’s face with a smug grin._

_“There it is,” he chirped, pinching Niall’s cheek tauntingly with rough fingers. “How cute.”_

_“Scared now, aren’t ya?” Harry laughed as Niall swatted his hand away, shaking the shock off his face and glaring at Harry._

_“Is this how you treat everybody that helps you, Niall? Or is it just because I’m a demon? Not Tomlinson?”_

_Their eyes locked for a second; Niall’s filled with confusion and Harry’s almost enraged and furious at Niall but before the Eraser could reply, Harry shrugged and started up again, walking aimlessly in the colorless abyss as Niall watched him suspiciously._

_“Whatever. Well, it’s true. At least, you’re only half-way though; had I let your little Superman Tomlinson get his throat slit, you’d be rotting in hell with me. And, trust me, I was very tempted.”_

_Niall froze at that. Tempted? To let Louis die? To let him die…_

_He was almost speechless as he looked into Harry’s eyes and saw pure seriousness; a glint of hatred as he spat Louis’ name and Niall wasn’t sure what to think._

_So he just asked him the first thing that came to mind._

_“…What changed your mind?”_

_Harry paused._

_“…Why the hell does that matter? You’re alive, aren’t you?” he almost stuttered as he retorted to Niall’s question._

_“Yes!” Niall snapped, throwing his hands up in frustration. Hands that had clawed his hair during his internal struggles that involved questions Harry would never answer and mysteries that he could never solve._

_All because of him._

_“And that’s the fucking problem!” Niall shouted, glaring at Harry stormily._

_“Why am I still alive?” he exclaimed. “Why do you keep coming out of nowhere like a damn superhero and saving me whenever I need it?! I know you possessed Jade; I know you killed your own; I know you stopped Liam from shooting me back at Treyc’s; why?! Why do you keep doing it?! I’m an ERASER; you are a DEMON! Why, Harry?”_

_Harry didn’t reply. He kept his eyes downcast; though they were wide during the rant and fearful as Niall’s voice roared. They refused to meet Niall’s now; his hair making a shadow over his eyes and hiding him from Niall’s watchful eyes._

_He stayed silent._

_He couldn’t respond._

_Niall sighed before he spoke again. “Harry.”_

_Harry was a bit astonished at the actual use of his name and his head snapped up; his red eyes meeting Niall’s who stared into them fiercely; unwavering as he continued._

_This had to stop for him._

_He needed his answers._

_Now._

_So he cut to the chase._

_“…Esther said thirteen years; that for thirteen years I was…untraceable; off the map. And that she was going to collect me.” He stated and he noticed the slight nervous waver in Harry’s crimson eyes._

_“Do you know what happened to me thirteen years ago?”_

_Harry remained silent, turning his head from Niall again. He didn’t like this game; where Niall was in charge and Harry was the one shaking and not able to call all the moves and reactions and questions and emotions._

_Harry was the ringleader._

_Not Niall._

_“Harry—“_

_“Shut up.”_

_And, all of a sudden, it was like Frankie’s house all over again._

_Except, this time, they were standing in a white blank space nothing—on absolutely zero solid ground or platform and they were just floating; hovering as Harry’s hands clamped around Niall’s wrists roughly and their lips collided._

_Niall’s eyes went wide at the sudden action but he couldn’t pull away; not with Harry’s death grip on his writs and he was afraid that if he pulled, they’d break; and that could cause a factor in killing this guy._

_It wasn’t like before; a short little peck on his lips that almost teased him and laughed at him; it wasn’t chaste and quick._

_It was an actually, honest-to-God, kiss and Harry’s wasn’t pulling away anytime soon._

_He didn’t return the kiss—he’d never, not for a demon. But he couldn’t help the small gasp that he let out when he felt Harry’s knife-edge demon fang poke into his lips. And he knew Harry did it on purpose to get his way like the arrogant brat that he was and he felt bad knowing he gave in so quickly._

_Harry wasted no time exploring further, swirling his tongue sensually and leisurely around the cavern and flicking it against Niall’s tongue teasingly; eliciting a muffled moan from the smaller boy which Niall could almost feel Harry inwardly smirking at._

_When they pulled away, there was a thin string of saliva between them and Harry mentally analyzed and committed to memory every single lovely detail of Niall’s blushing, panting, and slightly livid face before he dipped his head down and whispered in the boy’s ear._

_“You don’t have to know any of that. Just know that the only person that’ll be collecting you is me.”_

_And, just like always, Harry was gone and Niall was left with a million swarming questions._

_But all he could manage was two words._

_“…Damn you.”_


	12. Chapter 11

_“He looks weaker.”_

That was Dr. Jayne Collins initial thoughts when the door to her office was opened without warning—no knocking or no muffled voice calling through the thick wood to see if she was even there—he just walked in, forest-green eyes glued to his worn-out gym shoes in an attempt to not have to look directly at her and his bony hands shoved deeply into his pockets but not far enough as she could still see the deep, angry score of crimson lines decorating his thin, pale wrists.

Some of them were just done not too long ago as she can see red staining the skin around the violent slit.

She swallowed as she could feel that nauseating sensation in the pit of her stomach every time she imagined the boy with a blade and slashing at his skin so harshly.

He didn’t even try to hide them anymore; no more long sleeved shirts and cardigans and jackets in the middle of summer and no thick, sports wristbands when he couldn’t find a sweater to cover up his work. He just showed them off to the world now; uncaring of what anyone thought or made of it.

Jayne would say that was a rather brave thing of him to do but she knew he didn’t do it to make a statement.

She forced a sweet smile at him which faded just as quickly as it was there but he doesn’t acknowledge it; sinking into the cushions of the couch with an indecipherable expression and propping his feet up on the coffee table as he always did.

“Good afternoon, Nathan.” Her tone was too chipper to be believable but he nodded in reply.

Jayne grabs her clipboard from the desk with a small sigh, removing the papers that had been jotted on from the previous patient and pulling his to the front.

_Nathan Sykes_

That’s what the name written on the manila folder in her hands read in neat, curly black letters with chilling information inside of it.

_Seventeen years old, Major Depressive Disorder, Three suicide attempts, Bully victim, Self-harming, Anti-social_

It sometimes made her sick to have to look over his records and analysis because it seemed like it hadn’t changed in the two years he had been seeing her. The cuts on his wrists gotten deeper, the suicidal thoughts became more frequent; more chilling and bloodcurdling when he described them, his body became thinner from lack of eating, the discoloring marks he acquired from school harder to look at.

 And, for Jayne, it was scary because there seemed to never be a person she couldn’t fix.

Except Nathan Sykes.

“Did you go to school today?” she asked him, handing him a warm cup of tea that, in the back of her mind, she doubted he would even drink, but she sat it in front of him just in case he had a change of heart.

He nodded. Didn’t speak but she was used to that.

There was an awkward air around them as she cleared her throat. “Did you…do anything at school?”

The look he gives her is almost taunting which scares her since she hardly ever saw him convey an actual emotion in those gloomy green and blue eyes of his but she supposed that at least she was getting somewhere with him.

“I got an F on my math exam and the jocks tripped me in P.E. Yeah, I guess you could say I did something.” He said, tone sarcastic and bitter.

Jayne gave him a sympathetic smile that he didn’t even bother to respond to, turning his attention to the tea in the cup blankly.

“I’m sorry about that,” she almost whispered. “Did they get in trouble for this?”

“They never get in trouble,” Nathan replies, voice deadpan and void of any sort of emotion. “A couple of detentions and the next week, they’re back kicking my ass again. I hardly consider that a punishment but…” he sighs, not as if he’s disappointed or upset, but more like he’s bored. Like he’s tired of talking to her and not because it bothers him but that he considers it troublesome.

“It’s whatever. I’m used to it.”

Jayne jots down some notes on her clipboard quickly, the tip of her pen tapping against the wood and Nathan watched silently, slightly curious about what she was writing but he didn’t ask. It probably wouldn’t make too much of a difference anyway.

“You shouldn’t be used to it, Nathan.” She says to him after a while, looking up at him and their eyes meet and Jayne finds it hard to keep up the contact with the way his eyes bored into her; the way she couldn’t read them like she could read everybody else’s. It sent chills up her spine and she didn’t even think he knew it.

Nathan breaks the eye contact with a snort, dropping his head with the ghost of a smirk on his lips. Jayne watched nervously.

“Oh, and what do you suggest?” he asks her with an amused smile but frantic eyes and Jayne wasn’t exactly sure what she was witnessing.

“This isn’t some fucking Disney movie, Collins.” Nathan sneers. “I can’t stand up to them and be a fucking hero and expect it to all just stop because I ‘faced my fears’. Here’s the deal: I stand up to them, they kick me back down. There are no loopholes, no other choice, no fucking alternative. I either learn to get used to it on my own or they beat it into me.”

He pulls up the hem of his t-shirt to reveal purple bruises and scars around his waist and abdomen; discolorations under his arms and below where he put his cuts; there are red marks on his cheeks from where he was punched and the purple from the black eyes he had two weeks before is still fading and Jayne feel sick. Sick and sorry she even mentioned anything; that she even spoke.

“Nathan…” her hand reaches out to his frail ones—too frail and tiny to be a boy’s and he draws back sharply.

“Fuck it.” He stands up from his seat, his feet that had been propped on the couch accidentally knocking over the cup of tea, shattering the cup on the wooden floors but he paid no mind as he stormed out, ignoring Jayne’s calls for him as he left.

Jayne bit her lip as she pictured the worst.

\--

_“Damn you…”_

_Something in him just didn’t feel right when Harry pulled away; even in this state of mind where he was almost positive that he wasn’t supposed to feel anything—like the chapped texture of Harry’s lips and the bitter, metallic taste of blood on the tip of his tongue from when Harry kissed him; he felt numb; weak._

_“Fuck…”_

_He began to wobble and sway as he felt his head seemingly become heavier; pounding hard like he was getting beat with something heavy. Dark, ebony spots seemed to flicker before his eyes when he blinked, each blink lasting longer than the one before, and the white surface seemed to spin underneath him and making him dizzy._

_It was like he was awake—he could feel the pain in his head and he could feel himself growing weaker and he didn’t like the feeling at all. When he tried to speak again, he felt his throat growing dry; dry to the point where there wasn’t even a trifling amount of moisture in his mouth—like his entire mouth was sandpaper. He tried to swallow; just to try and get rid of the feeling but to no avail and only resulting in a harsh cough as he fell to his knees, the dizziness getting the best of him._

_“It…hurts…” he whispered  to no one in particular but it was all that was on his mind—all that he could think about at the moment as his eyes watered, blurring his vision back and forth—white to black, black to white and neither one seemed too appealing to him._

_His entire body felt like it was on fire; from his skin to his bones and even his blood as he felt like he was literally burning and he was unable to hold in the painful groans with the rapidly rising temperature of his body._

_His hands trembled—damn near vibrated as he tried to bring them up to his throbbing head, his breathing now ragged and coming out in uneven pants; a thousand unrecognizable voices all saying—no, screaming his name and mixing together like a sick melody in his mind. He wanted to shout at them to stop, to shut up._

_But his voice never came out._

_“What…the fuck is going on…” he panted and he only halfway expected an answer; he never knew when that bastard would pop up again just to taunt him some more but he never got a reply. No cheeky grin; no riddles; no mind games; nothing._

_He almost felt ashamed for the split second that he wished he’d come back._

_“H-Harry….what did you do…damn it…”_

_He choked as his knees hit the ground he was never able to see. His vision hazed from pure white to a dark, bloody red as the voices in his head grew louder—chanting over and over again and cackling with every choked scream and cry he let out but he was in too much pain, too much confusion to be angry. He didn’t even try to hold back the tears in his eyes and he was almost surprised to feel them run down his cheek and drip from his chin before disappearing into the white void._

_He didn’t understand what was happening; he couldn’t even think straight with the screaming echoing in his mind. He almost couldn’t feel; he felt numbness in his mind and didn’t even think he had the strength to move. He just hurt. That was all he felt._

_He just wanted it to stop._

_He was tired. So tired._

_“This…” he muttered and at this point, he wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say anymore; words, sentences; they all mixed up now._

_His hands shuddered when he fought to move them, blinking hard as more tears flowed out and letting out a gasp at the scorching sensation inside of his body with every little movement he made—almost punishing him for his willpower. As he brought his shaking hands up to his face, his vision was red and blurred but he was still able to make out the one thing covering his hands._

_Black._

_Thick ebony liquid dripped from his hands sickeningly slow—trickling down his fingers and almost teasing him as it filled out the faint lines of his skin and, at first, he had trouble processing what he was looking at with hazy vision and a disoriented mind but the longer he stared, the more it sunk in and his eyes widened._

_“No…”_

When Niall finally woke up, his first instinct was to scream.

Scream and curse and cry and shout out—anything because that’s all he knew how to do in these kinds of situations.

And maybe, just maybe, so Harry could hear him.

 Because he knew in the back of his mind, that jerk probably heard everything. So why not give him something to listen to?

His eyes snap open to a blurred room; smudgy shapes and figures but nothing clear enough for Niall to truly be able to identify and his breathing comes out in shaky puffs because his heartbeat is so fast, it’s literally hurting him and when he tries to calm it down by steadying his breathing pattern, nothing seems to improve.

Armies of smirking demons and the sounds of gunshots flood through Niall’s already hazy mind as the pain from his wounds set in quickly.

He lets out a loud gasp when he feels something tear apart on his abdomen and it reminds him of thousands of needles pricking his skin. Over and over again.

“Agh!” his throat is dry and sore when he lets out a cry and his body thrashes out of natural reaction.

_Snap._

“Fuck!” When Niall blinks, he begins to realize that it was tears blurring his vision and before he can hurt himself any further, the sound of the door knob smacking into the wall echoes throughout the room and the feeling of long, calloused fingers are pressing against his chest and holding him down to the bed.

“Damn it, Niall!” Cher’s voice can be heard shouting over the ones still lingering in his head, laughing and making fun of him to each other and it reminded Niall of the forest and all the mixed voices as demon eyes stared at him and Jade, the hunger and blood-thirst in their eyes still very much memorable in his mind and he jerked up again, startling the girl.

“Niall, stop! Stop! You’re going to open up your wounds again, you idiot!”

Niall either didn’t listen to Cher or didn’t hear her at all because his hips bucked up again, making the flimsy bed underneath him let out a whiny squeak and breaking yet another thread on his stitches.

When he screamed, he could feel more hands pushing down on him and some even clamping around his wrists and ankles tightly, no doubt leaving red rings around his pale skin but he still struggled against them, literally kicking and screaming.

“Niall!” Niall’s eyes were shut so he couldn’t see the girl’s reddening face or the glint of confusion in her eyes or her quaking hand but he sure felt it when it made swift connection to his cheek and the sickening snapping sound it made silenced the entire room.

The only sound you could hear now was the sound of Niall’s breathing, slower now as his heartbeat had calmed, and the small squeak of the wooden bed as Cher had stood up from it.

“…I told you to stop, asshole.” She almost growled and Niall could hear faint footsteps descending out of the room as she did and, if he didn’t feel so weak right now, he would smirk. Typical Cher.

Cher didn’t receive a reply from Niall, not like she was expecting one, but she did hear a low hiccup escape from his throat in the midst of the deathly silence they had created and she couldn’t help but stare.

“It hurts…” Niall croaked, earning a concerned yet puzzled look from Cher as she leaned over him again.

Her hand was gentle now as it reached out towards Niall, shaking slightly but gentle. She spoke in her general tone, dismissive and rough.

“They’re just stitches, Niall.” She said, fingers creating separate parts in his messy blonde hair as she ran her hands through it, a motion she had used to calm him when he first joined the team and he couldn’t sleep at night because he was still terrified of the nights before. It’s a known fact that Cher Lloyd isn’t an affectionate person. From the very minute she was brought into this world, she had never known affection and love and warmth; she was never her daddy’s “little girl”; her mommy’s “princess.” All she knew was “Don’t cry. Keep up your head. Don’t show weakness.” Her nickname of “little soldier” reverberated in her head in the voice of a strict father but she seemed to forget all of that when Niall was involved.

In a way, he was like her.

“Not that…” Niall murmurs and it’s slightly muffled by his pillow. Cher raises an eyebrow.

“What is it, then?” she asks, already reaching underneath the bed for her first-aid kit as she nudged Niall to turn him over.

She blanches as she sees the bloody rips and tears in his skin from where he ripped the stitches but begins to tend to them nonetheless, ignoring the hisses eliciting from his lips and the curses he managed to keep low and under his breath.

He shakes his head in reply and, despite her urge to prod some more for answers, the look in his eyes make her think otherwise and she gives him a small, fake smile—if only to comfort him. But she couldn’t help the questions piling up in her mind.

Neither of them noticed when Louis slipped out of the doorway and descended down the staircase, blurry-eyed and arms folded.

\--

Harry isn’t as surprised as he should be when a knife goes flying past his head and into the tree in front of him; just barely brushing against the skin of his cheek.

Despite the obviously dangerous circumstances, a smirk manages to etch its way onto his face.

“You missed, Li.” He says, tone almost sing-song as he waits patiently with an amused glint in his eyes as his older brother emerges from the shadows the trees had caused outside of their cabin, his face just as stoic and unreadable as usual.

“Oh?” Liam’s voice has a hint of mockery to it as he cocks up an eyebrow at Harry and, while the hunting knife shooting past his face didn’t scare him, the sudden playfulness in Liam’s tone did as he glances at the blade to see heavy, ebony blood dripping from it and onto the grass, charring it with a low hiss and his eyes instantly widen and flicker to an angry red in shock.

“The fuck?!” he shouts heatedly, snapping his head to Liam and, while any normal person would’ve been terrified of the crimson eyes glaring at them and the murderous glint they held, Liam simply cocks his head.

“What kind of language is that, brother?” he asks innocently and Harry swears, if Liam was even capable, he’d be grinning right now.

He fires back. “Appropriate fucking language for what you just did!” he spits, eyes growing darker and Liam remains unfazed.

“Well I guess I’ll be hearing more of it then.” Liam’s deadpan voice trailed and before Harry can even question him on it, he speaks again briefly.

“Heads up.”

Harry is pretty sure he is going to regret it but he tilts his head upward and, before he can even get a proper look, another butcher knife is descending towards his face.

He lets out a small, barely audible gasp before his eyes snap shut and his body goes stiff.

The knife never makes it to his face.

The silence couldn’t even be considered awkward as much as it was just dead.

As the knife clattered into the dirt, Liam is the first to speak.

“So how long were you planning to keep that from me?” he questioned and Harry scoffs, wiping some blood from his cheek.

“You toss knives at me like I’m in a freaking circus act and you expect to answer your question just like that?” he sneers, venom practically pouring off his tongue and Liam shrugs his shoulders uncaringly.

“Well,” he says. “It’s not like you were going to get hurt anyways, is it?”

They’re silent again and Harry isn’t even looking at Liam now, his eyes focused on the knife in the small puddle of his now dissolving blood as Liam continues to stare him down.

“That’s what I thought,” the older comments. “Now,” he says dismissively. “Care to answer the question?”

The childish groan Harry lets out is just barely audible before he responds with a reluctant, “…For as long as I had to.”

And the answer was mumbled, almost like a child would do when they didn’t want to admit something but Liam nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

“I see,” he begins slowly, almost as if processing what Harry told him and Harry watches him with wary eyes.

“And is this how you killed Prince Beelzebub without leaving any fingerprints, so to speak?”

Harry feels his heart clench as soon as Liam says “killed”; foggy, bloodstained memories playing throughout his mind as he takes a deep breath to calm himself down, so as to not give Liam anymore suspicions than he already did, before speaking again.

He lets out a dry, false chuckle at Liam’s question.

 _‘Yeah, Styles, laugh. Make it more believable.’_ He thought.

“I wasn’t the one who killed Beelze—“

Before he can even finish, Harry’s lifted off the ground and his body is flying backwards past the tall weeping willows until he’s slammed against one tall one, bark almost jutting out from it and hitting Harry hard in the center of his back, making him choke on a scream and white blinding lights flicker before his eyes as his body begins to slide down the tree.

He’s pulled back again by Liam and slammed back against the tree for a second time, this time his body staying in one spot—as f something was holding him there and he felt frozen in place.

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” Liam’s voice shouts and Harry almost shudders at the newfound anger in his brother’s voice, attempting to move a limb only to have it snapped back into its place hard so it’s stiff against the tree, making Harry groan in pain.

Liam’s steps are excruciatingly measured and there are chills dancing up Harry’s spine when he can see an actual emotion blossoming on Liam’s face.

Pure and unadulterated anger.

“Fuck,” Harry mumbles to himself when Liam stops a few inches from him.

“I saw you fucking do it.” He growled and Harry doesn’t even attempt to hide the glint of fear in his eyes as he mentally wishes for the old, emotionless Liam to come back right now. But he knows, at this point, it’s too late for that.

“And you killed all the others too, didn’t you?” he sneers and Harry’s eyes can’t even meet Liam’s; for once, and he isn’t sure why after all the lying and tricks and plans he’s ruined, that he feels guilty now.

“You fucking killed all of them and if I don’t get a good fucking explanation, you can kiss your afterlife goodbye, Styles.”

Even Liam wasn’t sure if he was bluffing at this point anymore or not.

It’s quiet for a few seconds between the two brothers, Harry’s breathing the only real noise audible.

Then Harry does the unexpected.

He laughs.

“Who the fuck cares about them anyway?” he says and it comes out more bitter than he intended it to.

“They never gave a damn about us, ever!” he shouts, and his eyes are flickering red as his voice raises.

“They spit on us and they beat us and treated us like shit every fucking day! How many times did we almost lose our afterlives because they thought we were ‘trash’? Tell me that! And you’re going to attack me for that?! For getting rid of worthless assholes like them?! I—“

“That’s not the point!” Liam suddenly shouts, cutting off Harry mid-sentence, his eyes now crimson and matching Harry’s as they locked on each other.

Harry watches fearfully as Liam turns his head, hiding his face from Harry’s view as his breath comes out in ragged pants, his chest rising and falling with each exhale until he finally turns his head back, eyes looking down now.

“You know what they do to demons who kill their own.” He says, voice shaky now and Harry can feel the grip Liam’s power had that kept him pinned to the tree loosening around him and his body slid down the tree until he was sitting and looking up at Liam.

“You don’t kill another one of us unless you’re told to. You carried out a fucking massacre, Harry. A massacre. Not only that but you murdered hierarchy. They strike you when you even look at them wrong, let alone a murder. You know they’re going to come after you…” he says and it sounds like he doesn’t want to.

Harry’s eyes are widening on every word, letting every bit of information linger in his mind as Liam spoke it—broke it down to him and his heart race, he’s sure, isn’t normal anymore.

His question comes out breathless. “Then why don’t you just turn me in yourself then?”

Liam bit his lip in thought before he replied.

“…I don’t know. I should.” He says as he bends down to meet Harry’s eyes.

And when he looks in them now, he’s reminded of the first time he met the boy; lost and small and wide-eyed and confused about the hell-hole he had been thrown into and, at that time, Liam had been reluctant to believe the boy had truly belonged there until time had passed by,

He shook his head of the thoughts. He didn’t have time for that. Not anymore.

“If I could, I’d do it. But…I don’t know now.” Harry could hear the actual disappointment in his brother’s voice—disappointment that he couldn’t turn Harry in; that he isn’t doing what he’s supposed to; that he’s making himself just as guilty as Harry. Whichever, Harry felt guilty again.

“All I know is that they’re going to come after you…soon. And whoever they send, it’s not going to be easy.”

Liam disappears before Harry can reply, leaving the boy confused and at a loss of words in the middle of the forest.

His thoughts manage to find their way back to Niall and he begins to wonder if any of this was worth it.

_‘I fucked up…’_

_\--_

By the time Nathan’s halfway home, it’s raining.

And he scoffs mentally about how typical this was of him to run off too far from home without a fucking umbrella as he finds it harder to walk with the heavy rainwater soaking his clothes dragging him down as he makes his way across a footbridge that leads him home.

“I’m so tired…” he mumbles, and he isn’t really sure what kind of tired he means anymore, when he makes it to the center of the bridge—right at the curve where it was highest—and he lied his head against the wood, in a small bend where a shallow puddle had been made but he hardly seemed to be bothered. He was already soaking wet, right?

 Letting out a loud sigh as more rain pelted him, he could feel a major headache coming on, no doubt, and he’s sure it still wouldn’t be treated by the time he got home but he let out a small groan at the ache in the center of his head, wincing.

Rainwater dripped into the cuts on his wrist, making him shiver even more as it mixed in with his blood.

He doesn’t quite remember when he started cutting but he knew it was around the same time he stopped giving a damn about himself.

As terrible as it sounds, it was the sad truth. Maybe it was the daily punches in the face that got him most or the constant yells of “fag” and “kill yourself” that made him hate himself to the point of self-harm but at some point or another, he began to agree with the very people he hated.

And maybe that’s why he began to despise himself even more—for letting those people get to him after so many years but it never mattered to him anymore.

The punches and kicks and shoves don’t hurt anymore, not like they used to and in the back of his mind, it was okay with him. He deserved it.

The names were all true now—he didn’t bother to yell back at them anymore, to try and prove he wasn’t what anyone said he was.

Who cared, right?

Not even Jayne—with her sweet smiles and very convincing concerned act, it never really persuaded Nathan to think that maybe, just maybe, someone cared about him. It was all for a paycheck with her. All of it.

As his eyes trailed downwards, the water underneath the bridge began to look very appealing to Nathan, the moon mirroring off of it as raindrops danced on the surface of it, creating ripple effects in Nathan’s reflection and for a brief minute, he was mesmerized by it, unable to take his eyes off of it and he found himself reaching out towards it.

 _“You can end it, you know? Just make it seem like an accident.”_ A voice snickered in the back of his mind and Nathan’s lip quivered only slightly at the thought.

_“What are you waiting for? You don’t really care, do you? Just jump. Jump and get all of this over with.”_

“Shut up,” Nathan murmured to no one in particular but it didn’t cease and it didn’t stop him from listening; hanging on every little word.

_“No one would care. Everyone would be happier this way. Just do it. Leave all this mess behind, Nathan.”_

_“It’ll be easier like this.”_

_“Everything is easier this way.”_

Nathan cursed himself for being weak and naïve as he stepped up on the rails of the bridge, the water in his shoes making squishing noises as he got himself settled on top of it.

He let his jacket fall off his arms, drenched and sopping wet with water and it fell to the ground with a loud plop.

Nathan’s breathing became uneasy as he stood on top of the bridge, his heart pounding in his chest and a million violent butterflies fluttering angrily in his stomach and he almost felt like throwing up, he was so scared despite how much he didn’t want to admit it, but he refrained, only staring down at his own reflection in the water.

He looked broken; dark black rings under his eyes from his lack of sleep and his skin—once a sun-kissed tan—now a sickly pale. His entire body was flesh and bone now; fingers long and white like a skeleton and hollow curves in his face where food should’ve helped to fill out.

He looked dead; a shell of what he used to be.

And he was soon to be dead as well.

He took a deep breath, mental chants in his mind telling him he could do this; that this could solve everything as he out-stretched his arms—the ugly crooked and furious crimson lines showing in his reflection and Nathan was reminded of where they came from as he began to lean forward; closing his eyes.

But when he re-opened them, ready to fall and end everything that’s ever troubled him, he didn’t see himself.

He saw glowing red eyes and a large black shadow surrounding them.

But it was too late as his frail body fell into the water.

The last thing he could see as his body sunk to the bottom was the black engulfing him and blurring his vision, these words whispered into his ear but he could hear a million different voices.

_“You humans are such sinful creatures.”_


	13. Chapter 12

Nathan had always envisioned Hell to be some sort of graveyard.

Because for the past three years, he had no doubt that’s exactly where he was going; pessimistic, he knew, but it was always a churning, nauseous feeling in the center of his chest that he felt whenever he held up a razor to his wrists and he could thought, once he was high off every little bit of pain from the blade and he was in such a dark place in his mind, he didn’t want to stop and all he saw was beads of red drop to the hardwood floors and his breathing turned ragged—

Well then Nathan thought he saw Hell.

And it looked like a scene from a low-budget horror movie, filled with gore, cheap effects, and stupid horny teenagers. Everything looked like a desert—grass didn’t grow and everything seems to stretch on for miles. It was so quiet; it was unnerving and made him frightened to go any further into the wasteland.

It wasn’t like the pretty cemeteries—that was decorated with different shades and hues for the tombstones; with flowers adorned on each one you see; with meaningful words etched onto the stones in pretty writing even with the eerie air of the dead.

This place was Death pure and simple.

The gravestones here were all an identical melancholic grey, spread out amongst the old sand and gravel and only a name and two dates on the tombstone as far as sentiment went.

At least they knew who you were.

And Nathan couldn’t help but imagine his name on one of them.

And it made him want to vomit; or scream; or cry; or run away. He couldn’t tell anymore.

Sometimes he just accepted it, like he did everything.

_“There’s nothing you can do to change this.”_

He found himself becoming disgusted at the sound of his own voice—hoarse and weak and oozing defeat and exhaustion that made Nathan’s lip curl up into a snarl.

_“They’ll always be better than you.”_

He could see a schoolyard; it was a run-down school, the building old and slowly crumbling apart into dust and the concrete was broken into so many cracks and potholes and the students walked around them and spoke like they always did, smiling as if everything was fine.

He could feel cold brick against his back and warm blood running down his face.

_“Always stronger.”_

He could feel his nose crushing under bigger knuckles and a boot swinging right into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him and making his eyes nearly jump from their sockets.

Tears welled up and he felt like screaming.

But that never changed anything for him.

_“You’re weak. You’re small. What can you do? Even if you try, they always knock you back down. There’s no hope for people like you.”_

They screamed names at him that he couldn’t hear; blood and pain and tears and  _godpleaseletmediepleaseplease_ clogged up his mind as everything spun and he could feel himself being yanked up and smacked hard across the face; and he still wasn’t sure if the snapping sound was the skin or his jaw but either way he fell to his knees hard and dizzy and so so tired.

_“People like you are…”_

He could hear his voice mingling in with the ones in his memories as hands gripped his messy chestnut hair, jerking him forward and a white-toothed smirk glowed out eerily through darkness at him as they spoke in unison, tauntingly; venomously.

_“…worthless.”_

Air fills his lungs and his eyes snap open with a gasp.

He’s sweating, he can feel it and his chest is rising and falling heavily as his fingers searched around for something, anything, to grab onto.

_‘The razor, the razor…’_

He always keeps it close; in the night stand by his bed hidden under notebooks and magazines that looked useless and stupid.

When he realized he was only grabbing air, he froze.

He felt blind.

He couldn’t see anything, anything. It was pitch black and he was lying back on nothing—air, clouds, something but he couldn’t feel it though it kept him steady—he moved and looked and he didn’t see anything less dark than anything else before his mind began to race with conclusions and theories, things to say to calm him down—it was a dream, that was it—and he tried taking steady breaths to calm his heart down.

It thumped in his ears and gave him a headache and he sighed, closing his eyes as he hoped for it to go away.

There was too much here, too much to take in.

“Looking for this?”

His eyes flutter open again and he can see himself standing what seemed like a mile away from where he was but he could see what he held in his hands clearly.

The razor; the blade still stained crimson with his blood.

Nathan’s breath hitched in his throat. He was sure this had to be a dream now; it had to be.

“You humans always find a way to ignore what is in front of you, don’t you?”

Nathan is standing upright now, still on top of nothing and something at the same time and he feels cold; shivering and his teeth chattering as he watched his doppelgänger come closer, what seemed like a long space between them now disappearing with each step he took and with every inch gone, Nathan felt himself go rigid as his heart began to pound and he could feel it in his throat.

He’s a ghostly pale by the time they’re both face to face; and up close he can see him so much better.

Thin physique hidden under baggy clothes and his russet hair still messy and unkempt under a New Era cap with some logo or another on the front. His skin is tan, the kind that it was before Nathan started hiding himself with long-sleeved shirts and the slits on his wrists are angry and violent and out for the world to see. They almost taunt him.

But when he looks even closer, he can see something else.

Golden eyes.

Nathan almost jumps back a few feet, tripping and falling back onto the non-existent ground and scooting back further, when he sees them and his duplicate grows an amused smirk on his face, seemingly pleases with that reaction.

“Surprised?” he asks and Nathan doesn’t reply, chanting a whispered “this is a dream, this is a dream” to himself over and over with his hands over his ears in an attempt to block everything out.

His yellow-eyed replica scoffs at this rolling his eyes as he bends down to look the boy in the face.

Nathan can feel his breath on him; can feel him hovering over his collarbone; staring at him, examining him and memories flash before his closed eyes like old films before he can feel his own calloused hands grip his chin and yank his face forward.

He’s staring wide-eyed into two frightening golden irises, flickering with hunger and entertainment and Nathan felt like he was in the schoolyard again, though, at the moment, he couldn’t decide which was worse.

An unnaturally sharp fingernail drags itself across his cheek sickeningly slow; teasing and mocking him and Nathan doesn’t even flinch, used to this pain by now but he does let out a shaky gasp of fear as he can feel the crimson liquid drip from his cheek and into the black abyss beneath him.

“Are you scared?” his own voice whispers, heavy Gloucester accent and low and growling—it sounded amused, husky as if it was getting off on making him tick but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

“…No…” it was a lie and they both knew it.

“Why be so prideful now? A few days ago, you were ready to take your own life.”

Nathan pauses as he silently considers this, he really didn’t know to be honest, but he never tried to voice his response, only lets out a shaky question that’s been weighing on his mind ever since he saw those eyes.

“Who the hell are you?” he breathes and he thinks he can hear a chuckle.

The grip on his face loosens and his doppelganger pulls back, letting Nathan see his entire face clearly again.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he laughs and Nathan feels his stomach churn at the sound. It was sick and sadistic and just so strange to hear in his voice.

“I am you.”

“That’s a lie,” Nathan finds himself saying and he has to refrain from yelling it, but either way, his duplicate seems taken aback.

“You can’t be me, I…I’m—“

“Right there?” his replica asks, tone sounding bored—as if he had heard it a thousand times and he steps towards Nathan again, faces so close that their noses were almost touching and their breath mixed in together—identical scents of salt and peppermint.

“I am you…in a way.” He muses, his facial expression contorting in a way saying he was trying to think.

“I am…what is inside of you, your darkness. Your sin.” His golden eyes seem to flicker at the word “sin” and Nathan still isn’t sure what to make of all of this, holding onto a breath he hadn’t yet released as his duplicate spoke again.

“Every time you brought that blade to your skin,” his voice seemed to shake; unstable and his voice dripping with anger and hatred as he spoke and Nathan felt now would be the perfect time to run if he even knew where to go.

Before Nathan knows it, he’s shoved to the ground; his doppelganger on top of him; eyes glowing angrily; violently as he continued, fingernails turning to claws and sinking into Nathan’s skin and making him cry out and croak but he found that he wasn’t able to speak.

“Every time you took too many of those pills; every time you prayed that your bullies would just kill you already; every time you would just give up and let them do what they wanted…”

Nathan’s heartbeat was like a drum-line in his mind and it hurt his ears and his chest and he wishes he could scream or cry or anything right now.

_‘But that never changed anything for you, did it?’_

As he stared, he could see his doppelganger’s appearance morphing now and Nathan wondered if this is what it felt like to watch yourself become a monster.

His skin bubbled; big clumps of tan and pale skin simmering and becoming pitch black and leathery, shining amongst the darkness in this space and the claws dug into Nathan’s skin grew inside of him, stretching to brush over his bones and his head lolled to the side as he let out a small groan of pain, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes and he’s shaking now; he’s terrified, he knows he is. No more lying or avoiding it.

Golden eyes shine through the black.

“I am Belphegor,” he speaks and even his voice has changed, gravelly and low and growling even as he formed words.

His breath was hot on Nathan’s neck as he growled out one last word.

_“Acedia.”_

Nathan isn’t sure what comes over him but he looks at the monster above him and he finds they don’t look very different.

But there isn’t much time to mull it over when he begins to taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth; bitter and seeping through his entire body and setting everything on fire.

His eyes snap open again and water fills his lungs.

\--

_“He keeps sleeping like that since the past two weeks.”_

Louis usually doesn’t keep up with petty details such as those unless it matters. His mind is busy with mangled up memories of a violent childhood and the fears of what lurks in the dark and he doesn’t have a moment to just sit down and truly see anything.

He knows demons don’t take breaks but they’ve been unusually quiet for the past couple of weeks and while he knows that can mean something even worse occurring, he doesn’t find himself able to truly care as he watches Niall lie in the ratty old guest room bed.

He looks peaceful, a look Louis hadn’t seen in months. Louis is used to screaming and crying and having to hold the boy in the middle of the night to get him to just stop shaking and whimpering.

But he’s quiet here.

Niall’s head is lolled to the side, sinking into the white pillow and the slight dribble of slob coming from the side of his mouth that makes Louis smirk for a minute.

He’s snoring softly, the rise and fall of his chest matching each snore, and his bandages have been redone for the day, fresh and white despite the small specks of crimson liquid adorning them like polka dots and Louis’ smile fades as he reaches out to touch him.

Niall only twitches slightly at the contact, eyebrows furrowing, before relaxing again and snoring as he was.

Louis is unfazed, stony blue eyes focused on the bruises on Niall’s upper body.

He wanted to do so many things; apologize, cry, go find a demon and kill it just to let off some steam but he remained silent as his fingers traced the blue and purple marks.

Some were bigger than others; some small like they could be birthmarks and some were large and long that Louis knew from experience would take years to fade.

He felt disgusted with himself.

_“Please just be my mentor!”_

_“I work alone, kid. Fuck off. This isn’t for you.”_

_“You don’t know shit about me!”_

His free hand balled up into a fist; he could feel his skin stretch and burn and he knew his knuckles were white as his eyes fell to the dark blood on the bandages.

“This is my fault…”

_“He and Jade almost got killed today and I wasn’t there to get to them in time! A demon—a fucking demon had to do my job because I wasn’t able to!”_

He grit his teeth as he felt his eyes began to water, the small burning sensation very familiar but before anything could go much further, the sound of the door creaking tore him from his thoughts, his head snapping to the entrance with wide eyes and his mouth parted slightly as he was ready to speak.

“Eleanor…” he gasps, sounding slightly relieved that it was just her.

She looks tired, bags under almond brown eyes and her once flawless skin is shining with battle scars—not as bad as Niall’s but you could tell she took a beating. Her curly russet hair is greasy and unkempt but tied back into a loose ponytail and she’s no longer wearing her dirty and ripped Rosemary uniform, she had tossed it into the trash the moment she was offered new clothes, a melancholic glint in her eyes, and she’s wearing a pair of baggy, worn-out jeans and a black camisole, her feet covered by combat boots and she had only accepted it with a bitter smile and mumbling, “Guess this is my new wardrobe then.”

Louis, in a sense, was taken aback by her. Most people would’ve been crying by now; traumatized and shaking and frightened by their own shadow like what had become of Treyc, and some just completely torn away from the world like Jade.

But Eleanor just took it as it came, with a grin on her face—even though it was fake—and dealt with it.

Even Louis hadn’t done that.

“Matt said he needs to see you.” She says, voice seemingly uncaring and Louis was halfway convinced.

“What does he want?” he asks, eyes briefly trailing towards Niall, still asleep on the bed, and Eleanor shrugs.

“Something about a case.” She replies and its silent for a moment as Louis’ eyebrows furrow together, considering this before he finally let out a sigh and stood.

“Fine,” he mumbles. His eyes travel back towards the door and stop on Eleanor’s face.

She’s frowning, deep lines in her face and her grip still on the door knob but it’s shaky and Louis knows by now that’s what she does when she’s angry; ready to hit something; someone.

She never breaks down and cries.

She gets mad.

“What’s up with you?” he asks and her grip loosens but she’s still struggling.

“Why…I…” she pauses between her words as if she’s trying to think of what to say and Louis raises an eyebrow and is about to speak until her voice cuts him off, gritted out and shaky.

“Why do you keep doing this? You’re always blaming yourself.” She says and, while Louis keeps his face stony and expressionless, he can feel an extra heartbeat.

“I thought we went over this.” He says and Eleanor bites her lip as she thinks about it.

“Yeah but…I don’t understand. You didn’t do it, those demons did. There was no way you could get to him in time with Zayn there. It wasn’t your fault…”

She’s shaking and Louis believes that maybe, just for a second, she’s about to cry, until her eyebrows draw in again and she’s swapping her confusion for anger.

“If anyone is to blame, it was that asshole demon!” she shouts.

Louis’ eyes flicker quickly towards Niall who still hadn’t awoken yet from the way he laid there despite Eleanor’s shout before standing up and closing in on her.

“He is  _my_ apprentice;  _my_ responsibility.” He almost sneers and, if it was anyone other than her, he would have.

“It’s  _my_ job to protect him and that’s it.”

“And how can you blame yourself for what a demon did?”

“I’m supposed to kill them.”

“Not when you’re being restrained!” she screams and Louis’ hand slams down on the wall above her head but her glare doesn’t waver.

They’re both glaring now; cold blue eyes locked in on determined brown and Louis wants to say something, anything, just to convince himself she doesn’t have a point but he can’t, his mouth won’t work.

He only lets out an angered sigh before storming out of the room and downstairs to Matt. Eleanor doesn’t watch him as he goes.

“Fucking idiot…” she whispers to no one in particular, making her way towards where Louis was sat and slumping down in the seat.

He angered her to impossible levels. And maybe this was just another “Eraser thing” as she so casually referred to it as but she knew he shouldn’t heat himself up over something that Zayn did. And Niall was safe in the end so all was good, right?

Her mind went back to the Rosemary basement and she could remember seeing Jade, eyes glowing red and not even being the slightest bit scared as she addressed the rest of them, shouting out instructions with blood staining her skin and her hair matted with God-knows-what.

_Harry_

That’s what she remembered Niall calling him; his tone dripping with annoyance and slight anger and the smirk that blossomed on the demon’s face—or Jade’s—when he heard it.

She was half-expecting the thing to turn around and kill them right there in the basement with the way it glared at Louis and herself but, to her slight surprise, it didn’t.

And she knew it had something to do with Niall. She didn’t know Niall’s relationship with the demon, she didn’t know half of what was going on, but she knew Harry wouldn’t hurt him.

Her eyes flicker to Niall’s sleeping form and she smiles without knowing it.

He really looked like such a sweet boy without all that anger in his face.

She bends down and places a chaste kiss to his cheek.

_“You’re a tough kid. You’ll be alright.”_

When Niall doesn’t react, she isn’t bothered.

\--

“I hear you got a case for me?”

Matt’s lips curl into a slight pout as he looks over the files he’s about to hand Louis before nodding.

“Yeah, missing kid.” He mutters before shoving it over to Louis, the Eraser cocking up an eyebrow as he looks down at the papers in his hands and scrunching up his nose in slight distaste.

“Missing kid case?” he asks in disbelief, earning a curt nod from Matt and he could hear a snicker from Aiden from behind the counter. He shoots him a glare he knows he can’t see before turning back to Matt.

“Don’t you think this is more of a…police kind of job?” he asks slowly, searching Matt’s face for any sort of sign and finding none, his expression just as blank as that Liam demon’s was and Louis could find himself cringing a little at the resemblance.

It’s obvious from the bags under his eyes and cracks in his lips, he hasn’t had even an hour of sleep—staying up and researching with only Aiden to help keep him going for nights on end and Louis couldn’t help but feel a little respect towards Matt’s dedication to his job.

Ever since they had gotten back, Matt was glued to the books and his laptop—finding whatever it was that he could on Rosemary and Beelzebub. He knew something was up and Louis wasn’t as sharp so he couldn’t really be sure of it but Matt’s hunches had never been wrong before so he didn’t question it.

“It’s not about the kid,” Matt says, irritation lacing his tone as he opens up the folder for Louis and paper-clipped onto the top left corner of the files is a picture of a boy, looking no older than Niall or Jade with a crooked kind of smile on his face. The picture is printed in black and white and the name  _‘Nathan Sykes’_ is typed next to it in all capital letters, basic information listed at the bottom.

Louis initial thought is that the boy looks tired.

“It’s about what happened since he’s been missing.” Matt finishes and he maneuvers his way towards the couch, flopping down as Louis waits for him to continue.

“Apparently people that the kid knew have gone missing as well shortly after. There’s been six suicides at his school of some boys he went to class with; all friends and all of them associated with him.”

Louis raises an eyebrow as he looks over some more information in the boy’s files, reading some notes from a therapist, Jayne Collins.

_‘Nathan says he is being bullied at school. I believe this is where most of his depression is coming from. He’s showing signs of suicidal behavior. He hardly seems vengeful towards his bullies.’_

“A friend of his seems to be have gone missing as well; Jay McGuiness. Apparently, they were very close until Jay moved back to Nottingham. His therapist said Nathan got worse after Jay left in her notes.”

There’s a picture of a boy with curly hair and a wide smile on another sheet of paper and Louis’ eyes analyze it before flickering back to Nathan’s.

“You think it has something to do with a demon?”

Matt is quiet for a moment, considering this before letting out a tired sigh; not feeling up to choosing his words carefully at the moment.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Louis.” He says and he almost sounds disappointed—that maybe he couldn’t say otherwise and Louis doesn’t reply.

“Rosemary’s was infested with demons. And we still have three of those bastards on the run.”

Louis starts to see red and his blood begins to pump hard through his veins as the angry images of Liam, Zayn, and Harry manifest in his mind and he really just wants to grab a gun and be rid of them but he can’t. Not now.

“Not to mention that Beelzebub has been reported dead.”

Louis’ ears prick up at that. He didn’t know about that one. Despite himself, his mind trails back to Harry.

_“…Beelzebub’s been taken care of.”_

Matt’s voice tears him from his thoughts again and he gulps a little at Harry’s image.

“He’s a prince of Hell; one of the Seven members of demon hierarchy. There’s no telling what’s going on. I wouldn’t be surprise if the other six start popping up as a result of this. However…” Matt’s voice hushes as he thinks and Louis can’t suppress the slight jolt of fear that rips through his body.

Every Eraser who was smart knew not to fuck with demon hierarchy.

If regular demons were difficult to take care of, hierarchy was fucking impossible. They were what demons feared; what Erasers feared. They were the demons that got highlighted in the bible; in lore, their names forever etched in your memory and you would do good to not forget.

_Beelzebub, Belphegor, Mammon, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Lucifer, and Satan_

They were the demons even Erasers didn’t mess with because whatever a normal demon could do to you, they could do ten times worse.

He hoped this didn’t trigger a war.

“If they did, we’re just as good as dead.”

Louis closes his eyes and tries to block that comment out before shutting the folder and picking up his guns and bullets from the counter, a sick kind of grimace on his face as he makes his way towards the door.

Matt glances at him from the couch.

“You don’t want to take Niall? You know he’s pretty much healed, right?”

Louis doesn’t even hesitate before answering.

“No.”

The door slams shut.

\--

She hadn’t left his room since he disappeared.

She’s lying in the bed he forgot to make before he left and she can smell the sweet-scented shampoo he uses on his pillow and her vision is blurred with tears as she grips the sheets in her hands tighter, a small sob ripping from her throat as she imagined the worse despite herself.

Jess hadn’t been away from Nathan ever since they were little and she had to wait at home bored while her big brother went off to school without her until she was old enough.

She can remember pouting in corners of the house all day and crying for “Nayfan” all day until the door would creak open and a little boy with red gym-shoes and crooked sort of smile would stand at the doorway and hang up his little jacket on the coat rack before calling her name, his voice high-pitched then, and Jess would run to him and tackle him in the floor in giggles, happy that her big brother was home.

But this was different.

There was no sure guarantee he was coming home; this wasn’t school. He was gone and no one could find him and it’s been two weeks.

Two whole weeks without her brother.

Two whole weeks without knowing where he was.

Two whole weeks of worrying if he was safe.

Two whole weeks with the sad thought in the back of her mind saying he was dead.

A gasp slipped from her lips as she sobbed into the pillows, her tears washing out the scent of his shampoo but she was too distraught to notice the smell slipping away.

Jess knew what he was doing. She knew what was happening at school and she knew that, at one point or another, Nathan had given up on everything.

Maybe it was the furious slits adorning his arms or the blank look in his eyes but she could see that he was done.

And she didn’t want to accept it.

And she hated it when he gave her fake smiles and told her he was okay when he obviously wasn’t. And how he refused to tell her what was going on and how he had the nerve to worry about her when he was the one stealing sleeping pills and trying to overdose when he thought no one knew.

He pissed her off. She hated him so much sometimes.

But she really wants him back.

She just hopes he hasn’t finally done it; she hopes the therapy is helping him; she hopes he’s okay.

He can’t leave her here alone, he can’t. And even with that thought in mind, she still can’t be sure.

It was always just them: Nathan and Jess, Jess and Nathan—no one came too close.

But it didn’t mean anything now.

She doesn’t hear when the door creaks open.

And red gym shoes slip into the room.


End file.
